I OPINION
LOOKING BACK By Dave Mathers
ALLAN DE LA PLANTE
(Above left) Allan de la Plante is a world-famous artist whose paintings and photographs have earned him many accolades during his career.
Images by and/or courtesy of Allan de la Plante
S
ixty-three years ago, two ‘highly hormonal’ teenagers met during a dance at Alma College, a private girl’s school in St. Thomas Ontario. A friendship that turned lifelong was struck when I advised the other guy to stay away from the fruit punch. His response was, “Why?” I told him it contained saltpeter and explained it ‘reduces male libido.’ The guy I was educating was Allan de la Plante, from North Bay, Ontario. His date was from Sault Ste. Marie. My date was from Lima, Peru where her father owned a brewery!! Let the story begin. Our futures took different paths, but at the end of the day, we were both seriously involved in the automotive field, in one form or another. Al de la Plante took a route that very few people would ever be able to emulate. He embarked on a career that saw him develop into a world-class photographer. In the early ‘70s, he covered the very popular Canada-Russia hockey series for the National Sport and Recreation Centre. At roughly the same time, he created the First Canadian Gallery of Athletes, a collection of 59 portraits of the top Canadian athletes of the time. It was commissioned by the Bank of Montreal. His star kept rising when he became a
66 Inside Track Motorsport News
principal Canadian photographer at the 1976 Summer Olympic Games, in Montreal. During the winter of 1976, he joined World Freestyle Champion Greg Athans to shoot Athans’ book ‘Ski Free.’ Since 1970, he had been covering motor racing during the summer and ski racing in the winter. He called me one day and said he was coming through London (ON). He needed a place to park his motorhome for a few days while he did some shooting. The motorhome, emblazoned with the colours and logo of the Bank of Montreal, had been rented by the bank. “No problem… come on down!!” The friendship continued.
STRUCK A DEAL WITH VILLENEUVE His motorsports photography was attracting a lot of attention. One very talented up and coming open-wheel star was very interested in his work. That star was none other than Gilles Villeneuve, who was busy making a name for himself in the feeder series to Indy and F1, known as Formula Atlantic. He won that championship in 1976. At Trois-Rivières during an Atlantic race, Villeneuve soundly trounced soon to be World Champion James Hunt. Upon hearing about this race through Hunt, Teddy Meyer of McLaren recognized this talent and of-
fered him a Formula One ride in a McLaren for the British Grand Prix in 1977. A fiverace deal was struck. The deal with McLaren fizzled as McLaren felt Gilles was too expensive with his propensity to ‘bend’ cars. Villeneuve was again looking for a ride. Enzo Ferrari, with an incredible eye for talent, went after Gilles and signed him to drive for the ‘Prancing Horse’ beginning in 1977 at the Canadian Grand Prix, at Mosport. Villeneuve replaced Niki Lauda. Al and Gilles had struck a deal, when they first met, regarding both their futures. Al went along for the ride. He was now recognized as Gilles’ photographer. In 1978, the Canadian Grand Prix was held on a new circuit on an island in the St. Lawrence River, where it snaked through Montreal. What better way to celebrate this new race circuit than having a French-Canadian driver win the Canadian Grand Prix, albeit in an Italian car? Linda and I attended that race in our motorhome. I still have nightmares of sleeping under the Champlain Bridge that shook, creaked, rattled and sounded like it was going to crash down on top of our motorhome. While the race was underway, I caught glimpses of Al moving about getting the best angles for his magnificent photos. The
