Clay Regazzoni (born Gianclaudio Regazzoni on September 5, 1939 in Lugano, Switzerland) was a Swiss Formula One racing car driver, but having been raised in Switzerland's predominantly Italian-speaking area bordering Italy, he was practically an Italian, which was a point of great pride during his years with Ferrari in the mid-1970s. In 1980 he crashed during the United States Grand Prix West, held at Long Beach, at which his brakes failed at the end of a long high-speed straight and he crashed at unabated speed into a previously retired and parked car in an escape road past a corner. Regazzoni has been paralyzed from the waist down since that accident.
