MOTOR RACING-BIANCHI/FUNERAL-REACTIONS Friends and fans of Jules Bianchi remember him as an "extraordinary man"

Record ID: 146446

  • Title: MOTOR RACING-BIANCHI/FUNERAL-REACTIONS Friends and fans of Jules Bianchi remember him as an "extraordinary man"
  • Date: 21st July 2015
  • Summary: NICE, FRANCE (JULY 21, 2015) (REUTERS) PRIESTS EXITING CATHEDRAL AFTER CEREMONY FOLLOWED BY COFFIN PALLBEARERS CARRYING COFFIN FERRARI FORMULA ONE DRIVER SEBASTIAN VETTEL, FRENCH FORMULA ONE DRIVER ROMAIN GROSJEAN AND FRENCH DRIVER AND FRIEND OF BIANCHI NORMAN NATO OUTSIDE CATHEDRAL COFFIN OUTSIDE CATHEDRAL VARIOUS OF PEOPLE WATCHING FROM WINDOWS VARIOUS OF PEOPLE APPLAUDI
  • Embargoed: 5th August 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: France
  • Country: France
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA1KUB489UDKNUXC25QVH29J6Y0
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Friends and fans attending funeral proceedings Tuesday (July 21) for French Formula One driver Jules Bianchi said they will remember him as a great man and driver.
    The promising Marussia driver died Saturday of critical head injuries sustained at last year's Japanese Grand Prix. He was 25.
    Many stars of the Formula One world, including French Sebastien Grosjean and Alain Prost, as well as International Automobile Federation President Jean Todt and Brazilian driver Felipe Massa, made the trip to Southern France to attend the ceremony, held in the Sainte-Reparate cathedral in the historic centre of Nice.
    As the coffin was carried out of the cathedral, hundreds of fans who followed the ceremony through loudspeakers outside the cathedral gave a last round of applause to the late driver.
    Bianchi's manager Nicolas Todt said Bianchi's gentle nature set him apart from other drivers in the sport.
    "Formula One is a complicated job in which you can often lose all notions of things but he always remained humble, nice with everybody. So I think this gentleness he had made the difference between him and the others," Todt said.
    Jean-Eric Vergne, a test driver for Ferrari and friend of Bianchi, said he was moved seeing so many many F1 stars attending the ceremony.
    "He was an extraordinary man, as beautiful inside as outside and now he is in heaven with F1's biggest names and he will stay a champion forever in our hearts," Vergne said.
    "It's been fantastic to have everybody here and it shows how this sport is, unified and together. We're all today praying for Jules and his family and wishing the best for his family to recover," he added.
    Hundreds of fans and tourists gathered on the square outside the cathedral, many laying flowers and pictures of Bianchi outside.
    "I came to pay tribute to Jules because I'm profoundly sad today. We've lost a good pilot and I'm a Formula 1 fan. So today it was the least I could do to come here as I leave in Nice," said Bernard Palaing, a local F1 fan.
    Bianchi made his F1 debut with Ferrari-powered Marussia in 2013, scoring the team's first and only points to date in Monaco last year when he finished ninth.
    He was the first driver since Brazilian triple world champion Ayrton Senna, at Italy's Imola circuit in May 1994, to die from injuries sustained during a grand prix weekend.
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