Silverstone Circuit
Silverstone Circuit is a motor racing circuit in England located next to the Northamptonshire villages of Silverstone and Whittlebury. The circuit straddles the Northamptonshire and Buckinghamshire border, with the current main circuit entry on the Buckinghamshire side; the Northamptonshire towns of Towcester and Brackley and Buckinghamshire town of Buckingham are close by, the nearest large towns are Northampton and Milton Keynes. Silverstone is the current home of the British Grand Prix, which it first hosted in 1948; the 1950 British Grand Prix at Silverstone was the first race in the newly created World Championship of Drivers. The race rotated between Silverstone and Brands Hatch from 1955 to 1986, but relocated permanently to Silverstone in 1987; the circuit hosts the British round of the MotoGP series. On 30 September 2004 British Racing Drivers' Club president Jackie Stewart announced that the British Grand Prix would not be included on the 2005 provisional race calendar and, if it were, would not occur at Silverstone.
However, on 9 December an agreement was reached with Formula One rights holder Bernie Ecclestone ensuring that the track would host the British Grand Prix until 2009 after which Donington Park would become the new host. However, the Donington Park leaseholders suffered economic problems resulting in the BRDC signing a 17-year deal with Ecclestone to hold the British Grand Prix at Silverstone. Silverstone is built on the site of a World War II Royal Air Force bomber station, RAF Silverstone, which opened in 1943; the airfield's three runways, in classic WWII triangle format, lie within the outline of the present track. Silverstone was first used for motorsport by an'ad hoc' group of friends who set up an impromptu race in September 1947. One of their members, Maurice Geoghegan, lived in nearby Silverstone village and was aware that the airfield was deserted, he and eleven other drivers raced over a two-mile circuit, during the course of which Geoghegan himself ran over a sheep that had wandered onto the airfield.
The sheep was killed and the car written off, in the aftermath of this event the informal race became known as the Mutton Grand Prix. The next year the Royal Automobile Club took a lease on the airfield and set out a more formal racing circuit, their first two races were held on the runways themselves, with long straights separated by tight hairpin corners, the track demarcated by hay bales. However, for the 1949 International Trophy meeting, it was decided to switch to the perimeter track; this arrangement was used for the 1951 Grands Prix. In 1952 the start line was moved from the Farm Straight to the straight linking Woodcote and Copse corners, this layout remained unaltered for the following 38 years. For the 1975 meeting a chicane was introduced to try to tame speeds through Woodcote Corner, Bridge Corner was subtly rerouted in 1987; the track underwent a major redesign between the 1990 and 1991 races, transforming the ultra-fast track into a more technical track. The reshaped track's first Formula One race was won by Nigel Mansell in front of his home crowd.
On his victory lap back to the pits Mansell picked up stranded rival Ayrton Senna to give him a lift on his side-pod after his McLaren had run out of fuel on the final lap of the race. Following the deaths of Senna and fellow Grand Prix driver Roland Ratzenberger at Imola in 1994, many Grand Prix circuits were modified in order to reduce speed and increase driver safety; as a consequence of this the entry from Hangar Straight into Stowe Corner was modified in 1995 to make its entry less dangerous. In addition, the flat-out Abbey kink was modified to a chicane in just 19 days ready for the 1994 Grand Prix. Parts of the circuit, such as the starting grid, are 17 metres wide, complying with the latest safety guidelines. After a new pit building, the Silverstone Wing was completed in time for the 2011 British Grand Prix; the start of the track was relocated to between Abbey Corner. Flat out, the right-hander of Abbey leads into the left-hander of Farm before cars brake into the second-gear right-hander Village Corner.
The slower left-hander of the Loop comes after, leads into the flat-out left-hander of Aintree, before cars head down the DRS zone of the Wellington Straight, designed in 2010 to promote overtaking at the track. Turn 6, the left hander of Brooklands, is taken by drivers in second gear and leads into Luffield, another second-gear curve, a right-hand hairpin; the right-handed kink of Woodcote leads cars down the old pit straight, before the difficult sixth-gear right-hander of Copse, with a minimum speed of 175 mph in the dry for Formula One cars. The challenging complex of Maggotts and Chapel – a left–right–left–right–left complex with a minimum speed of 130 mph – leads cars down the 770-metre Hangar Straight with the fifth-gear right-hander of Stowe at the end; the fifteenth turn of the track, has a minimum speed of 125 mph and precedes a short straight, named Vale, which leads cars downhill towards the Club complex. Heavy braking is required for the left-hander of turn 16, understeer can be an issue for the next right-handers of turns 17 and 18, as cars tentatively accelerate round to the start–finish straight.
The fastest lap of the current circuit configuration was 1:25.892 recorded in qualifying for the 2018 British Grand Prix by Lewis Hamilton, while the official race lap record is 1:30.621 set by Lewis Hamilton at the 201
1976 Formula One season
The 1976 Formula One season was the 30th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1976 World Championship of Drivers and the 1976 International Cup for Formula 1 Manufacturers which were contested concurrently over a sixteen race series which commenced on 25 January and ended on 24 October; the season included two non-championship races for Formula One cars. In an extraordinarily political season the World Championship went to McLaren driver James Hunt by one point from Ferrari's defending champion Niki Lauda, although Ferrari took the International Cup for Formula 1 Manufacturers. Hunt had moved from the Hesketh team to McLaren, taking the place of dual World Champion Emerson Fittipaldi who had moved to drive for his brother Wilson's Fittipaldi Automotive team for the season; the controversy began in Spain where Hunt was disqualified from first place, giving the race to Lauda, only for the decision to be overturned on appeal months later. The six-wheeled Tyrrell P34 confounded the skeptics by winning in Sweden, with Lauda third and Hunt fifth.
Hunt won in France and, it seemed, in Britain, but the race had been restarted after a first lap pile-up and Hunt drove on an access road returning to the pits, against the rules. He was disqualified after an appeal from Ferrari. Lauda became the official race winner. Lauda had a massive crash in West Germany and appeared to die from his injuries. Hunt finished fourth to John Watson's Penske in Austria. Miraculously, Lauda returned to finish fourth in Italy, where Hunt, Jochen Mass, Watson were relegated to the back of the grid for infringements of the regulations. Hunt won in Canada and in the US but Lauda took third to lead Hunt by three points going into the final race in Japan. In appalling weather conditions Mario Andretti won, Lauda withdrew because of the hazardous conditions, Hunt finished third to take the title. Chris Amon, drove his last Grand Prix in Germany; the 1976 Wolf–Williams cars were Heskeths, Williams had left the team by September. After the departure of Matra at the end of 1972 no French constructor competed in Formula One for three seasons until the Ligier's arrival at the start of this season.
American constructor Shadow received a British licence, thus becoming the first constructor to change its nationality. The 2013 film Rush is based on this season, focusing on the rivalry and friendship between James Hunt and Niki Lauda; the following teams and drivers contested the 1976 World Championship of Drivers and the 1976 International Cup for Formula 1 Manufacturers. For the opening round of the season in Brazil at the 5-mile Interlagos circuit in São Paulo, James Hunt took pole position in his McLaren with reigning World Champion Niki Lauda alongside in his Ferrari. Clay Regazzoni in the second Ferrari took the lead at the start. Regazzoni, Lauda and Shadow's Jean-Pierre Jarier battled. Regazzoni and Jarier collided, the former had to pit for repairs. Lauda now led from Hunt and Jarier, but Hunt crashed out due to a sticking throttle, Jarier did the same a lap after driving on some oil in the track. Lauda thus started his title defence with victory, with Patrick Depailler second in the Tyrrell, Tom Pryce completing the podium in the other Shadow.
At the Kyalami circuit near Johannesburg, Hunt took pole position for the second time in two races, with Lauda alongside again. It was Lauda who led into the first corner, with Hunt dropping down to fourth behind McLaren teammate Jochen Mass and Vittorio Brambilla in his March. Hunt was waved through by Mass, passed Brambilla to take second after five laps. Lauda led from start to finish to win again, with Hunt second and Mass third for McLaren. Well after the South African race, the drivers assembled at Long Beach in the US for the third round. Regazzoni took pole position with Depailler second, forcing Lauda onto the second row; the top four maintained their positions at the start, immediately Regazzoni began to pull away. Hunt now tried to pass Depailler for second. Depailler kept third until a spin which dropped him well down the order, but he charged back up to fifth, was back in third after Pryce's Shadow, Jody Scheckter in the second Tyrrell retired after driveshaft and suspension failures respectively.
Regazzoni went on to take a dominant victory, with Lauda completing the Ferrari 1–2, Depailler third. As the European season began at the Jarama circuit near Madrid, there was a big talking point as the Tyrrell team entered a new P34 six-wheeler for Depailler. Depailler was behind Hunt and Lauda. Lauda once again led for the first third of the race. Depailler, after a slow start, was running fourth behind Mass when he spun off and crashed with brake problems. Just before mid-race, the McLarens of Hunt and Mass found another gear and drove past Lauda, but towards the end of the race, Mass had to retire with an engine failure. Hunt took his first win of the season, with Gunnar Nilsson's Lotus third. After the race, Hunt was disqualified. McLaren appealed, saying this was due to the expansion of the tyres during the race, two months after the race, Hunt was reinstated; the fifth round was at the Zolder circuit near the Dutch-Belgian border. Ferrari locked out the front row, with Lauda on pole from Regazzoni.
Lauda motored away as the start, with Hunt up to second but, soon Regazzoni took the place back. The Ferraris raced away, Hunt dropped to sixth, behind Jacques Laffite's Lig
Guy Edwards
Guy Richard Goronwy Edwards, QGM is a former racing driver from England. Best known for his sportscar and British Formula One career, as well as for brokering sponsorship deals, Edwards participated in 17 World Championship Formula One Grands Prix, debuting on 13 January 1974, he scored no championship points. Edwards competed in the Aurora Formula One Championship in the UK from 1978 to 1980, scoring several wins driving March and Arrows chassis. In 1979, he scored, he is renowned for being one of the drivers, along with Arturo Merzario, Brett Lunger and Harald Ertl who saved Niki Lauda from his burning car during the 1976 German Grand Prix, for which he was awarded a Queen's Gallantry Medal for his bravery. He works helping racing drivers to get sponsorship, his son Sean a racing driver, was killed in a motor racing accident at the Queensland Raceway at Willowbank on 15 October 2013. He was training a younger driver, when the Porsche 911 GT3 the pair were driving in caught fire following a high-speed crash.
In October 2018, media falsely reported him dead. Footnotes Rainer, N. & Diepraam, M. 2000. Grand Prix minnow, Aurora great. 8W. Christmas 2000. Accessed: 21-08-2007 "Guy Edwards". Grand Prix Racing – The whole story. Archived from the original on 15 July 2007. Retrieved 21 August 2007
Shadow DN1
The Shadow DN1 was a Formula One car used by the Shadow team during the 1973 Formula One season and the early stages of the following season. The car was the first Formula One car for Shadow, which had participated in the CanAm Sportscar Series, it was designed by former BRM engineer Tony Southgate. The DN1 was driven by Graham Hill for his privateer team, Embassy Hill; the Shadow DN1 was to be the first car for Don Nichols' Formula One team, newly established to participate in the 1973 Formula One season. The team did have some racing expertise, having participated in the CanAm Sportscar Series and bringing in experienced British racing personnel including engineer Tony Southgate and manager Alan Rees. Designed by Southgate, the DN1 used an aluminum monocoque and double wishbone suspension, was powered by a 2993 cubic centimeters Ford Cosworth DFV engine. Having only worked with the smooth-revving BRM V12 engines, Southgate did not allow sufficient damping and reinforcement to compensate for the vibration of the flat-plane V8 DFV.
This caused some severe reliability issues for the cars at the start of the season. The Shadow works team cars were finished in an all black scheme, with sponsorship from UOP. Shadow missed the first two races of the 1973 season, but the team arrived in South Africa for the South African Grand Prix with two entries for its drivers; the lead driver for Shadow was the experienced former BRM and Team Lotus driver Jackie Oliver while driving the other car was George Follmer who, although a novice in Formula One, had extensive experience in sportscar racing. Follmer finished sixth in South Africa, followed this performance up with third in the following race. Oliver took another third place for the team in the penultimate race of the year in Canada. Shadow entered a third car for Brian Redman for the final race of the year but he failed to add to the team's points tally for the year. Shadow finished the year with eighth place in the constructor's championship. In 1974, the DN1 was superseded by the Shadow DN3 although new Shadow driver Jean-Pierre Jarier had to drive the DN1 for his first two races of the year, retiring from both.
Graham Hill purchased a Shadow DN1 during the 1973 season for his newly established team, Embassy Racing. Driving the team's only entry, which ran in a white scheme with a red cordon imitating the sponsor's cigarette packets, Hill failed to score any points with the DN1, his best finish was ninth at the 1973 Belgian Grand Prix. Embassy Hill switched to Lolas for the following season. * All points scored in 1974 were with Shadow DN3 cars Citations BibliographyHodges, David. A – Z of Grand Prix Cars. Ramsbury, Wiltshire: Crowood Press. ISBN 1861263392. Nye, Doug. Autocourse History of the Grand Prix Car 1966 – 1985. Richmond, United Kingdom: Hazelton Publishing. ISBN 0905138376. Southgate, Tony. From Drawing Board to Chequered Flag. Croydon, United Kingdom: MRP Publishing. ISBN 978-1-899870-82-0. Media related to Shadow DN1 at Wikimedia Commons
Graham Hill
Norman Graham Hill was a British racing driver and team owner from England, twice Formula One World Champion. He is the only driver to win the Triple Crown of Motorsport—the 24 Hours of Le Mans, Indianapolis 500 and the Monaco Grand Prix, he appeared on TV in the 1970s on a variety of non-sporting programmes including panel games. He liked painting in his spare time. Hill and his son Damon were the first son pair to win Formula One World Championships. Hill's grandson Josh, Damon's son raced his way through the ranks until he retired from Formula Three in 2013 at the age of 22. Hill and five other members of the Embassy Hill team died in 1975 when the aeroplane he was piloting from France crashed in fog at night on Arkley golf course while attempting to land at Elstree Airfield in north London. Born in Hampstead, Hill attended Hendon Technical College and joined Smiths Instruments as an apprentice engineer, he was conscripted into the Royal Navy and served as an Engine Room Artificer on the light cruiser HMS Swiftsure, rising to the rank of petty officer.
After leaving the Navy he rejoined Smiths Instruments. Hill did not pass his driving test until he was 24 years old, he himself described his first car as "A wreck. A budding racing driver should own such a car, as it teaches delicacy and anticipation the latter I think!" He had been interested in motorcycles but in 1954 he saw an advertisement for the Universal Motor Racing Club at Brands Hatch offering laps for 5 shillings. He was committed to racing thereafter. Hill joined Team Lotus as a mechanic soon after but talked his way into the cockpit; the Lotus presence in Formula One allowed him to make his debut at the 1958 Monaco Grand Prix, retiring with a halfshaft failure. In 1960, Hill joined BRM, won the world championship with them in 1962. Hill was part of the so-called'British invasion' of drivers and cars in the Indianapolis 500 during the mid-1960s, triumphing there in 1966 in a Lola-Ford. In 1967, back at Lotus, Hill helped to develop the Lotus 49 with the new Cosworth-V8 engine. After teammates Jim Clark and Mike Spence were killed in early 1968, Hill led the team, won his second world championship in 1968.
The Lotus had a reputation of being fragile and dangerous at that time with the new aerodynamic aids which caused similar crashes of Hill and Jochen Rindt at the 1969 Spanish Grand Prix. A crash at the 1969 United States Grand Prix at Watkins Glen broke both his legs and interrupted his career; when asked soon after the crash if he wanted to pass on a message to his wife, Hill replied "Just tell her that I won't be dancing for two weeks."Upon recovery Hill continued to race in F1 for several more years, but never again with the same level of success. Colin Chapman, believing Hill was a spent force, placed him in Rob Walker's team for 1970, sweetening the deal with one of the brand-new Lotus 72 cars. Although Hill scored points in 1970 he started the season far from fit and the 72 was not developed until late in the season. Hill moved to Brabham for 1971-2; the team was in flux after the retirements of Sir Jack Brabham and Ron Tauranac's sale to Bernie Ecclestone. Hill was known during the latter part of his career for his wit and became a popular personality - he was a regular guest on television and wrote a notably frank and witty autobiography, Life at the Limit, when recovering from his 1969 accident.
Hill was irreverently immortalized on a Monty Python episode, in which a Gumby appears asking to "see John the Baptist's impersonation of Graham Hill." The head of St. John the Baptist appears on a silver platter, which runs around the floor making putt-putt noises of a race car engine. Hill was involved with four films between 1966 and 1974, including appearances in Grand Prix and Caravan to Vaccarès, in which he appeared as a helicopter pilot. Although Hill had concentrated on F1 he maintained a presence in sports car racing throughout his career; as his F1 career drew to a close he became part of the Matra sports car team, taking a victory in the 1972 24 Hours of Le Mans with Henri Pescarolo. This victory completed the so-called Triple Crown of Motorsport, alternatively defined as winning either: the Indianapolis 500, the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the Monaco Grand Prix, or the Indianapolis 500, the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the Formula One World Championship. Using either definition, Hill is still the only person to have accomplished this feat.
Hill set up his own team in 1973: Embassy Hill with sponsorship from Imperial Tobacco. The team used chassis from Shadow and Lola before evolving the Lola into its own design in 1975. After failing to qualify for the 1975 Monaco Grand Prix, where he had won five times, Hill retired from driving to concentrate on running the team and supporting his protege Tony Brise. Hill's record of 176 Grand Prix starts remained in place for over a decade until being equalled by Jacques Laffite. Hill married Bette in 1955, they had two daughters and Samantha, a son, who himself became Formula One World Champion—the first son of a former world champion to emulate his father. Before taking up motor racing, Hill spent several years invo
1975 Formula One season
The 1975 Formula One season was the 29th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1975 World Championship of F1 Drivers and the 1975 International Cup for F1 Manufacturers which were contested concurrently from 12 January to 5 October over fourteen races; the season included three non-championship Formula One races and a nine race South African Formula One Championship. After a strong finish to the 1974 season, many observers felt the Brabham team were favourites to win the 1975 title; the year started well, with an emotional first win for Carlos Pace at the Interlagos circuit in his native São Paulo. However, over the season tyre wear slowed the cars, the initial promise was not maintained. Niki Lauda refers to 1975 as "the unbelievable year". In his second year with Ferrari, the team provided him with the Ferrari 312T—a car, technically far superior to any of the competition, he won his first world title with a huge margin over second place in the championship. American Mark Donohue died in August, two days after a practice run crash for the Austrian Grand Prix.
After the season in late November, an Embassy Hill airplane crashed in England and all six aboard were killed, including team owner Graham Hill and driver Tony Brise. The following drivers and constructors and contested the 1975 World Championship of F1 Drivers and the 1975 International Cup for F1 Manufacturers; the drivers went to Argentina to start the season, it was Jean-Pierre Jarier in the Shadow who took pole position with the Brabhams of Carlos Pace and Carlos Reutemann second and third on the grid. However, poleman Jarier could not start the race because his transmission failed on the parade lap. Home hero Reutemann took the led with Niki Lauda's Ferrari third. Pace passed teammate Reutemann to take the lead but spun off and dropped to seventh. James Hunt in his Hesketh soon overtook Lauda and Reutemann, much to the chagrin of the crowd. By reigning world champion Emerson Fittipaldi in his McLaren was past Lauda and up to third, soon took Reutemann for second as well. Fittipaldi took the lead with 18 laps left.
Pace recovered to fourth after his spin. Fittipaldi started his title defence with a win, Hunt was a superb second, Reutemann third in front of his home crowd; the second round was in Brazil, Jarier took pole position again with Fittipaldi alongside and Reutemann third. Reutemann, just like in Argentina, took the lead at the start from Jarier and Pace was up to third, whereas home driver Fittipaldi dropped to seventh. Jarier retook the lead from Reutemann on lap 5 and pulled away. Reutemann struggled with handling issues and dropped well down the order with Pace up to second, Clay Regazzoni's Ferrari third and Fittipaldi recovering to fourth. Jarier's engine stopped with seven laps left and Pace took the lead. Regazzoni was up to second but dropped behind Fittipaldi and Jochen Mass in the second McLaren as he too suffered handling issues. Pace took a home victory, with countryman Fittipaldi second and Mass third. A month after the Brazilian race, the field went to South Africa and Pace followed up his win with pole, with Reutemann alongside as Brabham locked out the front row, home hero Jody Scheckter was third in the Tyrrell.
Pace led at the start, with Scheckter second, Ronnie Peterson in his Lotus jumped up from eighth to take third. However, the Swede dropped back down the order. Scheckter took the lead from Pace to the delight to the fans. Pace kept second until he struggled with tyres and was passed by Reutemann and the second Tyrrell of Patrick Depailler. Scheckter took an emotional home victory, with Depailler completing the podium. Nearly two months after the third round, the European season began in Spain at the fast Montjuic street circuit in Barcelona; the Grand Prix Drivers Association was not happy with the state of the barriers, which were not bolted properly, the drivers threatened not to take part. Mechanics from the teams went around the entire circuit to attempt to repair/fasten down the barriers. After work was done on the circuit, the drivers agreed. Reigning world champion and championship leader Emerson Fittipaldi had no intention to race because of the condition of the barriers, went home on Sunday morning.
The organisers of the event locked the cars and motorhomes inside the circuit confines for breach of contract and threatened to keep them there. This being incompatible with the timeschedule for the next race at Monaco, the teams decided to cater for the organisers wishes and raced anyway; the rest of the drivers were there for qualifying, Ferrari took the front row, with Lauda on pole from Regazzoni, Hunt third in the Hesketh. There was chaos at the start when Mario Andretti in his Parnelli tapped the car of polesitter Lauda, sending it into the sister car of Regazzoni and knocking both Ferraris out of contention. Hunt gratefully took the lead, Andretti, whose car was undamaged was second. Hunt led until he crashed after spinning on oil on the track, leaving Andretti leading from John Watson in the Surtees and Rolf Stommelen's Hill. Watson had to pit with a vibration and the leader Andretti retired after a suspension failure sent him into the guardrail; this promoted Pace to second and Peterson to third, but the Swede retired after colliding with backmarker François Migault while lapping him.
On lap 26, Stommelen's rear wing broke, the car bounced into the barriers and flew back onto the road, hitting the barrier on the other side but the momentum of the car was enough for it to fly over the barrier where spectators were wa
1975 United States Grand Prix
The 1975 United States Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on October 5, 1975, at the Watkins Glen Grand Prix Race Course in Watkins Glen, New York. It was race 14 of 14 in both the 1975 World Championship of Drivers and the 1975 International Cup for Formula One Manufacturers, it was the 25th United States Grand Prix since the first American Grand Prize was held in 1908 and the 18th since the first United States Grand Prix at Riverside in 1958. The race was won by the new world champion, Austrian driver Niki Lauda driving a Ferrari 312T. Lauda took his fifth win for the season by a four-second margin over outgoing world champion, Brazilian Emerson Fittipaldi in a McLaren M23. Fittipaldi's West German team mate Jochen Mass finished third; the second place allowed Fittipaldi to confirm runner's up position in the points race after a half-season long battle with Argentine Brabham driver Carlos Reutemann, although Fittipaldi's McLaren team would fall one point short of overhauling Brabham in the Constructors battle to be second behind Ferrari.
Ferrari had taken eight poles, five wins, the Drivers' Championship and the Constructors' Championship in 1975, but had never won the United States Grand Prix. Nor had any driver won the American race in the year he claimed the title. New world champion Niki Lauda took pole position and won the race to interrupt both of these streaks. There was controversy; the Canadian Grand Prix had been cancelled and the organizers had arrived in the paddock with a writ to freeze the prize money over legal wrangles. There were disputes with the Grand Prix Drivers' Association over transfer fees and wages; the track had been modified for this race by the addition of the "Scheckter chicane" at the bottom of the hill entering the esses. After François Cevert's fatal crash there two years earlier, the corner was deemed to be too fast. Named for the Tyrrell driver who suggested it, the chicane was expected to add nearly five seconds to the lap times. Mark Donohue had been fatally injured in practice for the Austrian Grand Prix, John Watson had replaced Donohue on the Penske team.
Penske fielded the brand new PC3 for Watson, Although bearing the Penske name The Englishman used the car in practice, but due to a technical failure was forced to switch to the old PC1, in the paddock as a demonstrator, for the race. Lauda was quickest from the start. Vittorio Brambilla registered in with quickest time on Friday, just one hundredth of a second better than Lauda. Lauda's engine developed a vibration, but the Austrian used the spare car to beat the March's time by a second. On Saturday, it was Emerson Fittipaldi who held the pole at 1:42.360, but Lauda answered his challenge as well, ending the discussion at 1:42.003. Carlos Reutemann, Jean-Pierre Jarier, Mario Andretti and Brambilla took the rest of the top six positions on the grid. On race days, Watson's Penske suffered electrical problems in the morning warmup; as he was being towed in, the crew retrieved the display car from the First National Citibank podium in the paddock and prepared it to enter the race. Lella Lombardi's Williams suffered an electrical failure, her teammate Jacques Laffite was unable to race after mistaking visor cleaning fluid for his eyedrops.
Lombardi tried to use Laffite's car. Lauda led the field away from the grid and through the new chicane for the first time, followed by Fittipaldi, Brambilla and Andretti. Carlos Pace and Patrick Depailler collided on lap both retiring from the race as a result; the gap between Lauda's Ferrari and Fittipaldi's McLaren settled at about one second. Mass, who had moved up to sixth lost three places to Andretti, James Hunt, Ronnie Peterson when he accidentally switched off his engine. On the next lap, with Mass now in front of him, Clay Regazzoni smashed his nose against the rear wheel of the McLaren and lost more than a lap as he pitted for a new one. On lap 10, Reutemann's engine expired and Andretti's front suspension collapsed; this left Lauda and Fittipaldi twelve seconds ahead of Jarier, five seconds clear of a group containing Hunt, Mass and Scheckter. Lauda's teammate Regazzoni was caught by the leaders after his lengthy pit stop, he let Lauda by, but held up Fittipaldi for six laps, despite blue flags being waved to indicate that he should be let through.
Regazzoni was black flagged and brought in for a warning on lap 24. Back on the track, Fittipaldi was now 15 seconds behind Lauda, Jarier had retired with a seized rear wheel bearing, Brambilla dropped back to seventh suffering from loose seat supports, Hunt, Mass and Scheckter were battling for third. Mass overtook Hunt on lap 33. With nine laps to go, Peterson passed Hunt, struggling with his gear selection and brake balance. Three laps from the finish, Mass's brakes began to fade, Peterson closed, but locked up his left front tire under braking; the resulting flat spot slowed him enough for Hunt to retake fourth on the last lap. Lauda took the win by just under five seconds; this was the final race for Tony Embassy Racing with Graham Hill. On the evening of 29 November 1975, double-world champion Graham Hill was piloting a Piper Aztec light aircraft from France to London, his passengers were team manager Ray Brimble, driver Tony Brise, designer Andy Smallman and mechanics Terry Richards and Tony Alcock.
They were returning from Circuit Paul Ricard where they had been testing the GH2 car being prepared for 1976. They were due to land at Elstree airfield before onward tra
_2008_Goodwood.jpg)
Graham Hill
Rolf Stommelen
Vern Schuppan
François Migault
