1981 South African GP

Can anyone fill me in on the events that led to some teams not taking part in the 1981 South African GP. Why did the event finally not count for points at year's end ?

The event never was even part of the championship:

http://8w.forix.com/za81.html

If you subscribe to the Atlas website magazine, Don Capps did an excellent series of articles about the FIASCO war.

Starting Here

The FOCA teams geared up for a legal campaign against the FISA. The FOCA lawyers were requesting a series of injunctions be issued in order to prevent a number of the race organizers from honoring their contractual obligations with the FISA.

However, it seemed somehow that the spark was fading in both the FISA and the FOCA camps. There was no doubt that the war had inflicted heavy damage on both of the warring powers. In the dull Winter days of early 1981, as more and more involved openly expressed the idea that the war must end, and end soon, what little hope that there had been for a peaceful solution just weeks earlier seemed as remote as ever. A December meeting between Balestre and Ecclestone was deemed by Ecclestone as a "waste of time."

Then as the start of the season approached in South Africa, it was announced that the event would be a FOCA-only affair. It was also confirmed that the Long Beach Grand Prix was discussing the possibility of switching to CART in the near future. There was now a series of discussions being conducted by intermediaries to find an end to the FIASCO War. Despite the promise the new talks offered, no one was taking anything for granted. In the center of the talks was Enzo Ferrari.

As the talks continued, the South African Grand Prix was run on its scheduled 7 February date. The race was supported by the FOCA teams - and Goodyear! - running their cars with sliding skirts. Carlos Reutemann won for Williams with Nelson Piquet (Brabham) second, followed by Elio de Angelis (Lotus), Keke Rosberg (Fittipaldi), John Watson (McLaren), and Riccardo Patrese (Arrows). This race was later to be declared "outside the championship" and the results and points were null and void.

The running of the South African Grand Prix and the approach of the Long Beach Grand Prix stirred the wheels of compromise to spin faster. Balestre was now faced with the prospect of several of his teams - notably Renault - being forced to break ranks since they needed to race in the important American market.

Finally reason prevailed. Balestre now found good reason to compromise, and the FOCA teams realized that they could live with a deal brokered to protect its commercial interests, even if it meant ditching the sliding skirts. In the end, the FISA got rid of the sliding skirts and the FOCA keep control of the commercial interests in an arrangement known as the Concorde Agreement. Despite all the former talk about open covenants openly arrived at, Balestre agreed to the stipulation that details of the Concorde Agreement be kept secret and known only to those directly involved. The agreement was culminated in early March and while there should have been much celebrating, there was actually not at all the level and intensity one would expect. There had been too many harsh words and too many rock and nail-studded cow pies tossed to get all concerned to forgive and forget.

Wasn't there another race in 1980 ( Spanish GP ?? ) that fell onto this category as well ?

yes,that was the only race that was part of the championship but points were taken away afterwords.

Originally posted by cheesy poofs
Wasn't there another race in 1980 ( Spanish GP ?? ) that fell onto this category as well ?

In the area southeast of Madrid, some of the most bitter and bloodiest fighting of the Spanish Civil War took place. Therefore, it seemed appropriate that the area was once again the battlefield of what was rapidly escalating into a bitter - and at times quite uncivil - war between the Federation Internationale de Sport Automobile (FISA) and the Formula One Constructors Association (FOCA). This was scarcely what the organizers, spectators, sponsors, and most of the potential participants in the Spanish Grand Prix at the Jarama circuit had in mind for their visit to the Iberian plain.

In retrospect, it seems a bit amazing that this bitter episode in Grand Prix history began with a modest flap over fines for not attending driver meetings. That, however, is merely in retrospect. At the time, many had been anticipating a meltdown over something. It was clear that the driver fines were merely the first thing that came along that Jean-Marie Balestre could put hands on. If not that, then it would have just something else.

The first battle of the FIASCO War was waged in late-May 1980 at Jarama, the early skirmishes having led FISA President Balestre to come to the conclusion that FOCA simply was not getting the message. It was time to marshal the troops and let the FOCA know that the FISA meant business. The hapless organizers caught in the midst of this battle were from the Real Automovil Club España (RACE). Their circuit, their race, their hopes for a modest profit - all wound up being held ransom and at the mercy of others.

The fines owed were distributed thusly:

$7,000 ($2,000 + $5,000) for not attending the meetings at Zolder or Monte Carlo - Elio de Angelis (Lotus), Mario Andretti (Lotus), Alan Jones (Williams), Emerson Fittipaldi (Fittipaldi), Jacques Laffite (Ligier), Jean-Pierre "Jumper" Jarier (Tyrrell), Didier Pironi (Ligier), and Alain Prost (McLaren);

Absent at Zolder, but present at Monte Carlo - Jan Lammers (ATS), Tiff Needell (Ensign), Nelson Piquet (Brabham), Carlos Reutemann (Williams), Keke Rosberg (Fittipaldi), John Watson (Williams), and Ricardo Zunino (Brabham); present at Zolder but absent from the Monte Carlo meeting - Derek Daly (Tyrrell), Jochen Mass (Arrows), and Riccardo Patrese (Arrows); those drivers missing only one meeting were fined $2,000.
The fines were due prior to the start of the first practice session at the Spanish Grand Prix. The FOCA said that the fines were unconstitutional since the motion had not been approved during the FISA meeting in Rio. The FISA responded with the expected retort that the FOCA were quite mistaken and the fines were indeed due and due now. Once it became obvious that the fines were not going to be paid, the FISA requested that the respective Autorite Sportive Nationale (ASN) for each driver not paying the fine rescind the driver's competition license. The French ASN, the FFSA, was only too happy to oblige the request - particularly since Balestre was also the president of this organization.

In the days leading up to the first day of practice on Friday, May 30th, the now openly warring organizations were not in a mood to utter the "C" word - compromise. The FISA was in a combative mood, as some fines had been paid but the vast majority were still outstanding. Likewise, the FOCA was utterly convinced that the fines were not legal and asked the drivers not to pay them. The FISA placed the blame on the FOCA for asking its teams to urge their drivers to not attend the meetings, something Grand Prix Drivers' Association (GPDA) president Jody Scheckter accused FOCA spokesman Bernie Ecclestone of doing so as to provoke a confrontation. Some of the cynics among the crowd noted aloud that Scheckter drove for a team which did not belong to the FOCA, Ferrari.

The FISA insisted that the individual drivers were responsible for paying their own fines and that no one else would undertake that duty - certainly not their team, sponsors, or even race organizers. The latter is significant since the RACE had offered to place a deposit with the FISA in the amount equal to the sum of the fines owed by the drivers. The answer was a firm "NO!" from the FISA to the RACE, who were now having visions of disaster dance before their eyes, since the possibility that the event would not be run was becoming a more distinct possibility each passing day.

On Thursday evening, Balestre unleashed a broadside at the FOCA at a press conference. Balestre made it clear that no one with an outstanding fine would be allowed to practice come the next day. This was exactly what the officials from RACE dreaded to hear. It is at this point that they attempted to place a deposit with the FISA so they could have a race and let the headaches pass on to the next organizers of the next event. Once again, Balestre said that only full payment by the individual drivers would suffice.

It was pointed out by a FOCA member at the press conference that this was rather a case of changing the rules in mid-game since Essex had already paid the fine for Mario Andretti so as to allow him to compete at the Indianapolis 500, an event on the FIA International calendar. Plus, Nelson Piquet had not been turned away from competing at the Nurburgring the previous weekend. Balestre fumbled for a moment, but then said that these had been "mistakes" and that both still owed their fines.

The president of RACE, the Marquis de Cubas, then asked the question as why was it that the drivers who did not attend the drivers' meeting at Zolder were allowed to participate at Monaco? If they had not paid their fine, why were they not therefore suspended for Monte Carlo? Balestre lamely explained this away by saying there had not been sufficient time to do so. At this point de Cubas closed in for the kill: If that was the case, that there was not sufficient time between Belgium and Monaco, how there suddenly become sufficient time between Monaco and Spain? Balestre refused to answer the question.

At this point, the wrangling continued on for a short while, but it was plainly clear that Balestre was not going to allow the race to be run under the sanction of the FISA if the fines were not paid and the FOCA teams attempted to run the event with the drivers. That the FOCA was the promoter of the Spanish race was not lost on any one present. It was clear that Balestre was hoping to withdraw the FISA sanction of the race causing the FOCA to take a bath on the losses that would incur.

When Friday morning finally rolled around, the results of some of the late night verbal fistcuffs were becoming known. After arguing with Balestre and getting nowhere, the president of RACE, de Cubas, told Balestre that he was not welcome at the circuit and that should he attempt to visit the track he would not be admitted. That the RACE actually owned the Jarama circuit was a twist which had, up to this point, somehow escaped the FISA. If there had been only the skirmishers exchanging a few rounds, this was the point where the two forces had their movement to contact become a hasty attack or defend proposition.

The RACE announced that it had assumed the sporting powers delegated to the Federacion Española de Automovilismo (FEA) by the FIA and the FISA. Needless to say, this little development left more than a few scratching their heads, many on both sides not expecting this development. The RACE pointed out that in the FIA Yellow Book it stated that to assume this authority the RACE merely had to inform the FIA (Federation Internationale de l'Automobile) in writing, which it was doing. In other words, the RACE were going to run the Spanish Grand Prix without the FISA. The RACE were taking back the sporting powers handed over to the FEA in October 1979 on the grounds that the FEA had not used this properly. The RACE was throwing its lot with the FOCA and aligning itself according.

The small problem that soon surfaced was that the FEA had no desire to run the Spanish Grand Prix outside the jurisdiction of the FISA. Meanwhile, the FOCA and the RACE stated that the Spanish Grand Prix would be held and that since the RACE was sanctioning the event, there was no need to have the officials from the FISA present at Jarama. And, by the way, since the event was being run without FISA, this also meant that it was not necessary for the participants to have a FISA license.

So, over four hours after it had been scheduled to begin, the first practice for the 1980 Gran Premio de España finally got underway. Well, the first "official" practice that is. Earlier, at the originally scheduled time, the Ferrari, Alfa Romeo, and Renault teams had sent their cars out to circulate the track and hope that local driver Emilio de Villota in a Williams FW07 Cosworth Ford stayed out of their way. After maybe a half hour, the session was red-flagged by the organizers from RACE which informed the FEA and the FISA officials that their presence was no longer welcome. And neither were their fellow travelers. Balestre was not among those asked to leave, having remained in Madrid after stating that he had said all that he needed to the previous evening.

Not all the teams participating in Grand Prix (or Formula One) racing were members of the FOCA. The Ferrari team had an arrangement with the FOCA to handle its travel arrangements and other similar details during the season. While not a member of FOCA, Scuderia Ferrari were perfectly happy to use the organization to represent it when it benefited the team. It was a relationship developed from a position of mutual benefit and not one which was based on shared ideals. The return of Alfa Romeo to the Grand Prix ranks in late-1979 meant that the team would not be eligible for FOCA membership until later in the 1980 season. Membership in the FOCA required that a team complete a minimum of a season in the championship series before being asked to join. Prior to the events at Jarama, the FOCA had extended the offer of membership only for Alfa Romeo to decline the offer. In addition to Ferrari and Alfa Romeo, Renault was another team choosing not to join the FOCA and making a set of arrangements similar to that of Ferrari.

When the "official" practice finally began, four teams did not participate: Ferrari, Renault, Alfa Romeo, and Osella. Renault explained that it was neither for nor against the FISA - Balestre - but simply did not wish to find itself participating in an event which was being conducted on what seemed to be very shaky legal grounds. As a major manufacturer, Jean Sage explained, Renault could not allow this sort of thing to happen. However, the teams stated that while they would not run in practice, they would remain on site should a deal be negotiated which would allow the event to run as originally proposed: a FISA-approved round in the World Drivers' Championship.

Oh, yes, there were actually teams in Jarama to participate in the Spanish Grand Prix. The first practice session saw the Ligier team in the top two spots, Jacques Laffite edging Didier Pironi. Behind were the Williams drivers, Carlos Reutemann and Alan Jones, in that order. Behind these came Nelson Piquet in a Brabham.

On Saturday, the best time in practice was set by Alan Jones, but it was not quite quick enough to push Laffite off the pole. Overnight Balestre and Ecclestone had held talks which basically got nowhere. Balestre was determined not to compromise on the original issue, the fines, and even should that be resolved there was the matter of the FEA, RACE, and the FOCA to untangle. And the only way to untangle it was in a way which left the FISA holding the high ground at the end of the day. Naturally, Ecclestone and the other members of FOCA didn't quite see it that way.

Blunt as ever, Frank Williams put it this way: "I refuse to be administered by an incompetent - it's my livelihood, or him. All Balestre has is an armband - he doesn't run any cars, he doesn't pay my bills, he doesn't have one penny invested in my business or any of the teams here." In late-1978, similar words had been voiced in America and now the organization known as Championship Auto Racing Teams, or CART, was now running the National Championship Trail that once belonged to the United States Auto Club (USAC). More than a few observers took a moment to pause when they read what Frank Williams had said. This was further evidence that the battle was shaping up and soon the blood would really begin to flow.

One of the four teams which had sat out the first practice session did show up for the Saturday session: Osella. Enzo Osella changed his entry to that of his sponsors and found this a sufficient device to allow him to participate in the race while still not getting too far away from the FISA camp. In the meantime, Marco Piccinini was in the Brabham motorhome with Bernie Ecclestone and others who were doing their flat best to get him to place the cars in the race. There were strong "signals" from both Renault and Alfa Romeo that if Ferrari raced, so would they. Naturally, with an eye on Balestre and his possible reaction, Jean Sage said that Ferrari exerted absolutely no influence on whether or not they would race. Alfa Romeo echoed Renault.

At the end of five hours, Piccinini emerged from the Parmalat motorhome. Despite the final practice being delayed pending the decision as to whether or not Ferrari, Renault, and Alfa Romeo would participate, it was now clear that Ferrari had not changed its mind and would sit out the race. Renault and Alfa Romeo quickly fell into step with Ferrari. As Piccinini patiently explained, Enzo Ferrari had given his guidance and that guidance meant that Scuderia Ferrari would not participate in a non-FISA event. Ciao.

The "FISA teams" then packed up and left. Not unnoticed was that the only drivers to attend the Zolder and Monte Carlo driver meetings were Jody Scheckter, Gilles Villeneuve, Rene Arnoux, Jean-Pierre Jabouille, Patrick Depailler, and Bruno Giacomelli - the drivers for Ferrari, Renault, and Alfa Romeo respectively.

As if this were not enough for the FOCA and RACE, the Spanish Minister of Sport announced that the RACE had no authority, no "right," to take the sporting powers from the FEA. However, the RACE officials were determined that there would be a 1980 Spanish Grand Prix and on Sunday there would be a Grand Prix regardless of whether some folks liked it or not.

On Sunday, Balestre departed Madrid for the FIA Plenary Conference meeting in Athens. That afternoon, 22 cars took their places on the grid at Jarama and ran the 80 lap race as scheduled. It was an event with a higher than usual rate of retirements, only six making to the finish:

1st Alan Jones, Williams FW07B Cosworth Ford
2nd Jochen Mass, Arrows A3 Cosworth Ford
3rd Elio de Angelis, Lotus 81 Cosworth Ford
4th Jean-Pierre Jarier, Tyrrell 010 Cosworth Ford
5th Emerson Fittipaldi, Fittipaldi F7 Cosworth Ford
6th Patrick Gaillard, Ensign N180 Cosworth Ford

Now the question was: did the event constitute a round in the World Championship? With Balestre being given the support of the FIA Plenary Conference, it was apparent to even the Untrained Eye that the FOCA were going to pay for their efforts in Spain. The reaction of Balestre was swift - the FOCA position on the FISA Executive Committee was removed, as well as the similar position for the FOCA representative on the F1 Commission. The Plenary Conference supported Balestre on these moves. Since Ferrari informed the Plenary Conference that FOCA did speak for the team, FOCA could therefore be said to not speak for all the teams and therefore was not necessary as a member of these committees.

Balestre also said that all the drivers who took part in the "illegal" Spanish Grand Prix would be dealt with in a manner more lenient than would be the case for the FOCA teams. He said that he understood the very difficult, if not impossible, position in which the team owners placed them and realized that they were merely pawns in the game. However, be that as it may, until further notice they were banned from participating in any FISA-sanctioned events.

Thanks gentlemen.
I do remember all of this going on back then, but as a 13 year old, I couldn't quite understand all of this political bickering between FOCA & FISA. The struggle for power was quite fascinating. One might think what would have happened if the " Concorde Agreement " not happened...

All of this has got me thinking...

I was wondering about Ferrari's participation in the 1982 Belgian GP. After GV's fatal accident, the team - electing not to run the race - packed up and left Zolder that saturday. Having qualified both cars, did that event count as a participation for the scuderia ?

Also, to my knowledge, is this the only WC event that saw no Ferraris at the start ?

Originally posted by cheesy poofs
All of this has got me thinking...

I was wondering about Ferrari's participation in the 1982 Belgian GP. After GV's fatal accident, the team - electing not to run the race - packed up and left Zolder that saturday. Having qualified both cars, did that event count as a participation for the scuderia ?

Also, to my knowledge, is this the only WC event that saw no Ferraris at the start ?

There were a number of other rounds in the CSI WDC which lacked Ferrari participation: just off the top of my head I can recall the 1950 British GP, 1959 British GP, 1960 USGP, 1961 USGP, 1966 British GP....

What was the reasoning for Ferrari to run under the NART banner in America ?

Jeez... one of the dullest ever periods of F1. Back then, it was still possible - just about - to condsider Grand Prix racing as a sport. Like I said; just. But the entire FISA v FOCA saga was tedious beyond belief. How I sympathised with my friend and colleague Quentin Spurring, Autosport's editor at the time, for having to sort out the endless crap week, after week, after endless week. It drove the poor fellow to distraction, and he still regards it as the least pleasurable period of his career.

However, despite the agreements reached during '81, there was still more grief in store. Conflict reared it's ugly head once again in the spring of 1982 at Imola when the FOCA teams reverted to fighting mode following the FISA decision to disqualify Piquet and Rosberg from their results at the earlier Brazilian GP, their cars having being deemed underweight, so the FOCA membership duly boycotted the San Marino GP. Well, some of them did at least...

The FISA-aligned 'Grandee' teams were of course represented; Ferrari, Renault and Alfa Romeo - plus Osella, ATS, Toleman (who were either perennial ditherers or new boys). The big surprise was that Tyrrell - from the 'Garagistes' - broke rank and entered too. Ken's decision, IIRC, came back to haunt him a couple of years later, in the form of lack of support, when the 'lead shot' argument errupted...

This particular race, however, is mostly remembered more for the equally unpleasant Villeneuve/Pironi fall-out.

Twinny

Originally posted by Twin Window

The big surprise was that Tyrrell - from the 'Garagistes' - broke rank and entered too. Ken's decision, IIRC, came back to haunt him a couple of years later, in the form of lack of support, when the 'lead shot' argument errupted...

Twinny

Wasn't his decision at least partly due to having landed desperately needed sponsorship from Italian washing machine firm Candy ? I would have thought a fairly good example of the short termism prevalent as ever in the world of GP / F1

Originally posted by LittleChris


Wasn't his decision at least partly due to having landed desperately needed sponsorship from Italian washing machine firm Candy ? I would have thought a fairly good example of the short termism prevalent as ever in the world of GP / F1

I think that they'd lost Candy by then (to Toleman) but, as you say, they would doubtless have been influenced by their then backers Imola Ceramica.

Nevertheless, it was still a surprise that they went against BCE and co. And like I said, they paid for their actions later...

Twinny

Originally posted by cheesy poofs
All of this has got me thinking...

I was wondering about Ferrari's participation in the 1982 Belgian GP. After GV's fatal accident, the team - electing not to run the race - packed up and left Zolder that saturday. Having qualified both cars, did that event count as a participation for the scuderia ?

Also, to my knowledge, is this the only WC event that saw no Ferraris at the start ?

I believe Ferrari withdrew the cars from the event.

Strangely enough, they didn't withdraw Pironi in Hockenheim after his accident.

Reason I have read:
Theodore Racing had dumped Jan Lammers at a very unelegant manner from the team and replaced him with Tommy Byrne. The entire F1 paddock, save Theodore was upset about such a treatment of Jan. When Ferrari discovered that if they would withdraw Pironi, then Byrne was in the field as being the first non-qualifier. To show their disapproval of the Lammers/Byrne situation, Ferrari elected not to withdraw Pironi though it was clear he never could reace. Nevertheless it was accepted by the organizers and willingly, the race started with one car short of the maximum allowed. I recall having read that a number of F1 teams supported Ferrari with this decision too.
Add to this the Salazar/Piquet freefight an one can tuly say tha Hockenheim '82 was an event that won't be easy to forget....


Henri Greuter

Originally posted by Don Capps


There were a number of other rounds in the CSI WDC which lacked Ferrari participation: just off the top of my head I can recall the 1950 British GP, 1959 British GP, 1960 USGP, 1961 USGP, 1966 British GP....

1973 Dutch and German GPs are two others that spring to mind.

Originally posted by cheesy poofs
All of this has got me thinking...

I was wondering about Ferrari's participation in the 1982 Belgian GP. After GV's fatal accident, the team - electing not to run the race - packed up and left Zolder that saturday. Having qualified both cars, did that event count as a participation for the scuderia ?

Also, to my knowledge, is this the only WC event that saw no Ferraris at the start ?

tambay had a neck injury at Dijon for the Swiss GP the same year, hence no Ferrari's on the starting grid there too.

And yet they managed the WCC in spite of all the missed starts and tragedies......

I've got this article scanned from Road&Track.

18th South African Grand Prix

SEASON OPENER

Off and running, but probably not for points

BY INNES IRELAND

ALTHOUGH THE FISA/FOCA battle was not yet resolved, at least the South Africans put on a race— and a good one at that-to get the 1981 Grand Prix season underway. The major automobile manufacturers involved in Formula 1 (Ferrari, Renault and Alfa Romeo) could not be present because of their allegiances to FISA and, of course, they were sadly missed. Renault must be particularly sick about not taking part, for with Kyalami being more than 5500 ft high their turbo cars have a tremendous advantage as was demonstrated last year when Rene Arnoux won the race. At the time the race was run, there was still a fighting chance that the race would be given Championship status by the F1A but as I write, some days after the event, this possibility is remote indeed.

One of the organizers reminded me that it is about 15 years since I was last in South Africa, driving a Ford Advanced Vehicles Ford GT40 in the 9-hour race. I could hardly believe it was so long ago, because 1 clearly remember the circuit and the race. We were in the lead by quite a margin until the last half hour or so when my co-driver started to go slower and slower. I think it was on the last lap that the 2nd-place man overtook us and then we found that the problem was just a Borrani spoke wheel breaking up. Had my co-driver not been so determined to be in the driver's seat at the finish, he could have made a pit stop, changed the wheel and won comfortably.

Not a great deal has changed over the years except for great chunks carved out of the banks to make run-off areas and the erection of guardrails and catch fences. The organization is still slightly amateurish but more than making up for this are the friendliness of everyone and the enthusiasm of the sponsor. Nashua, which makes copying machinery. Whether or not it was the absence of "the big three" I cannot say, but the whole meeting seemed to be conducted in a very relaxed atmosphere even though each team was as dedicated as ever to its quest for speed and victory.

My greatest disappointment was in the weather. With the postponement of the Argentinian Grand Prix in January, I was looking forward to taking my annual suntan in South Africa. But throughout my 6-day stay I doubt if the sun came out for more than a couple of hours altogether. It was overcast with rain off and on every day. Ultimately it was this factor which made the race particularly exciting, but regrettably for the organizers, reduced the crowd to about 40,000 people. I feel sure that it was the weather rather than the absence of "the big three" which brought this about.

Before going to Johannesburg, I had thought that with Goodyear's withdrawal from Grand Prix racing, tires would present a major problem to the participants. They did, in fact, but not such a major one as I had supposed. The tires used were ones made by Goodyear for the Aurora Championship run in Europe, the cars being out-of-date Formula 1 machines. While similar in appearance to the normal GP tire, the compound of the rubber is much harder, the tire walls much softer and the dimensions considerably different with 13 in. being the only diameter available. The different dimensions meant that in most cases the suspension geometry wasn't right; the softer walls meant that spring rates would have to be changed and the hard rubber meant handling and braking problems. But in the end pole position was achieved with a time that was only about 1.0 second slower than the fastest Ford Cosworth-powered car last year using qualifying tires. The biggest part of the problem was that there were tires enough to allow each car only three sets for practice and the race, with but one set of wet weather tires per car. And finally, the story of the race centered on the tires, not because of the compound or dimensions, but whether they were wet or dry at the start when the flag fell.

Race day was much more gloomy than those that preceded it, with dark skies, poor visibility and quite heavy rain. In the half hour session in the morning, Nelson Piquet was fastest by quite a margin whereas in a previous wet practice Alan Jones was the quickest. But piquet had raised the ride height of his car to suit the wet, thinking, as I did, that the rain was there to stay. Eddie Cheever, now driving for Tyrrell, had a nasty moment as he rejoined the track from the pits. Looking in his mirrors as he accelerated away, he hit a puddle of water and spun straight into the guardrail.

With an hour or more to go before the start, the downpour stopped and the overcast was lifting. "Would it clear, or wouldn't it?" must have been the thought uppermost in the minds of drivers and team managers. With half an hour to go a light rain fell, but it was steady. Most cars did their warm-up laps on slicks, but Jones and Piquet were on wets. Carlos Reutemann was on slicks, and I noticed him doing 3 warm-up laps by sneaking quietly into the pits lane and out the other end. Obviously he was working out his chances using slicks in the wet.

On the grid there was a profusion of umbrellas and confusion everywhere else. Mechanics were running about with wet and dry tires, team managers were peering at the sky hoping for a positive sign one way or the other, and the drivers were sitting in their cars wondering if they had made the right decision about wets or slicks. In some cases the drivers weren't given the choice, for their team managers gave the choice to their number one driver and the number two had to use the opposite of the number one. Jackie Oliver decided that both his cars would start on slicks and that was that— no choice.

The decision-making was made more difficult when it stopped raining with about three minutes to go, but by now teams had run out of options. So with Nelson Piquet on pole position with wet tires. Carlos Reutemann lined up behind him on slicks, then Alan Jones on wets, Keke Rosberg slicks, Elio de Angelis slicks, Riccardo Patrese slicks and so on down the line.

When the green light came on it seemed as if life had turned to slow motion: with wheels spinning madly even the sideways motion of the cars as they tried to get away, seemed terribly lazy. But then they were away with Jones chasing Piquet, having come inside his teammate. Suddenly he appeared to stop as he fumbled for 2nd gear and was engulfed in spray as the pack hurtled past. Jan Lammers in the ATS made a brilliant start tearing down the inside of the track while De Angelis was doing much the same down the outside. Andrea de Cesaris. driving the second McLaren, was left on the grid with a stalled engine while Desire Wilson—driving on her home ground in her first Grand Prix in the second Tyrrell, her debut being paid for by Deutz (tractor manufacturers)— seemed to appear from nowhere long after everyone had gone.

Trailing an enormous plume of spray, Piquet crossed the line for the first time, already 3.0 sec ahead of De Angelis. Right behind him—and I mean right behind—came Lammers followed by a cautious Reutemann, Rosberg. Mansell. Watson, Jones, Zunino, Daly, Stohr. Patrese, Lees, Surer. Serra, Salazar, Cheever, De Cesaris, and Wilson. There was more light rain during the first few laps, and Piquet must have thought he'd really got it right as he pulled out 3.0 sec per lap on De Angelis. But this was not the way it turned out.

The rain stopped and by lap 10 the circuit was beginning to dry out. John Watson, going well as he always does in the wet also on wet weather tires, had moved up to 2nd place and was beginning to close on Piquet and gradually pull away from Jones in 3rd place. But the writing was already on the wall, for Piquet was driving off the correct lines searching for parts of the track which were still wet to conserve his tires, hoping that it would rain again to return the advantage he was rapidly losing.

Jones was the first of the leaders to realize he was on the wrong tires and came in for a change on lap 17, rejoining the contest in 10th place. Reutemann, who had been as far down the field as 8th, was picking up time on the drying track and was up to 4th spot by lap 19, having a battle with Chico Serra, the new boy in the second Fittipaldi, who was driving with great skill, albeit on wet tires.

It wasn't until lap 27 that Piquet conceded to the weather conditions and dived into his pits for a wheel change. Although Piquet's pit stop was slightly quicker than Jones's, John Watson, Carlos Reutemann and Ricardo Zunino (back on the Brabham team again until Hector Rebaque recovers from his illness), all sped past, leaving Piquet in 4th place about 8.0 sec down on the Saudia Williams car. Watson had two glorious laps in the lead before he too, came in to change wheels, leaving Reutemann in the lead.

I didn't have an ideal vantage place from which to watch this race and with so many pit stops and drivers unlapping themselves I over-revved my lap chart about this time and it took several laps before I got myself sorted out.

So from lap 30 until the finish at the end of the 77th lap, Reutemann never looked back, gradually extending his lead from 8.0 sec to 20.0 sec by the time he took the flag. Even when he was on his dry tires, Piquet could do nothing to hold Reutemann. never mind catch him, for the suspension changes he had made for the wet weather considerably reduced his adhesion in the dry. As it turned out for him. he had made the wrong decision about which tires to use at the start. Had it continued to rain the result would have been entirely different, for no one could touch him in the wet. This would also have suited Watson right down to the ground.

De Angelis delighted the Team Lotus people with a very good 3rd place and the last man to be on the same lap as the leaders. He was lucky to be in the race at all after the first corner into the 2nd lap, for Lammers had been determined to get past as they approached Crowthorne corner. He came inside the Lotus under braking but not far enough to give him the advantage of line; De Angelis took his line cutting across the front of the ATS and his rear wheel clobbered the front wheel of his opponent. Lammers went off into the catch fencing but managed to keep going and make it to the pits with front wheels well splayed outward. It took many laps to make the repairs to the steering and suspension and when he rejoined did 15 laps before retiring with overheating front brakes. In the rush to get him back on the road the mechanics did not refit the air ducts to the calipers.

Rosberg, in the redesigned Fittipaldi F8C, took 4th place after an excellent, if exhausting, drive. He started on slicks and was down to 12th place before the track started to dry. From this point he made steady progress through the field until lap 33 when he was in 5th place behind Watson, who was struggling with too much understeer now that the track was dry. But it took Rosberg 20 laps before he managed to get by and chase after De Angelis who was 12 sec ahead. He closed this gap by 1.0 sec/lap and would certainly have come to grips—and passed—the Lotus had it not been for a cruel stroke of luck. One of the heat shields from the underside of the car blew backward and across the center of his rear wing thereby destroying about one third of the downforce produced and making the car oversteer like a pig. He dropped back closer and closer to Watson and his determination to stay in 4th place was the center of attention during the closing laps. With Watson right on his tail, Rosberg started using up more and more of the grass exiting from the fast kink before the pits on opposite lock, which looked a bit hair-raising. But hang on he did for a really well earned place.

Watson started off well in practice, being 5th fastest with 1 minute 14.47 seconds. The suspension changes that were made did nothing to improve the car and, in fact. Watson went slower and slower until his final grid time was almost 1.0 sec slower at 1:15.25, this being achieved during the first timed session. His new teammate Andrea de Cesaris drove well to be 9th on the grid and was up to 5th place in the race when he made a pit stop for a tire change. This dropped him to 12th and after climbing a couple of places he went off the road caught by too much understeer at the slow climbing right-hander before the pits.

Behind Watson, Patrese gave Arrows its first placing for 1981 after a steady, if uneventful, run. He'd had a good scrap with Rosberg in the first half of the race but finally had to give way. He was down on speed along the straight partially because of the amount of wing angle he had added for the wet. Lack of power from the engine may have contributed to this for the team was suspicious of the engine rebuilds not being up to scratch—two blew up during practice. Some aerodynamic and suspension changes had been made to the cars during the winter which seem to have helped considerably The cars are now painted a funny or-angy-brown because their new sponsor is Beta, the toolmaking people. This makes them appear much more bulky than when they were in gold. Along with the new sponsor the team has a new number two driver in Siegfried Stohr, who shows considerable ability. In the spare car during practice he lapped almost as quickly as Patrese and during the early part of the race was ahead of him running on slicks. Within a few laps he was shunted from behind by Geoff Lees in the Ensign, and although able to continue had his engine blow up on him a few laps later.

Just out of the points—if there were any—came Eddie Cheever now driving for Tyrrell. I was surprised that he didn't do better than 12th on the grid considering that he was 0.61 sec faster than his South African teammate, Desire Wilson. My readers may remember my thoughts on lady drivers in Grand Prix cars, but I have to add that she did a very creditable job for the team, although she did have a couple of shunts in practice and finally went off the road backward on lap 52 because of loss of concentration. Although Cheever was on slicks and she on wets, Wilson did climb up the field to 12th place for a couple of laps, being ahead of Cheever, until shortly before her pit stop.

Ricardo Zunino was in 8th, a further lap down on the leaders after what must be his best ever drive for Brabham. Even the mechanics were surprised at his practice times. He drove particularly well in the wet, getting as high as 3rd place before he stopped to change tires. He was hampered by a very difficult change in his Weismann gearbox, particularly in going for 2nd in the slow corners.

Next came another new boy, Chico Serra. driving the second Fittipaldi entry. Like his boss—and Nelson Piquet—Serra is a Brazilian who has had very little experience in a Grand Prix car. Being the number two, he got the opposite tires to Rosberg and started on wet tires, driving quickly but sensibly in this, his 1st GP. From being 15th at the end of the 1st lap he climbed steadily through the field to be 4th by lap 20. He was overtaken by only Reutemann and Zunino before making a remarkably quick pit stop of only 18.0 sec to change all wheels on lap 29. Although the now-retired ex-World Champion himself must have been itching to get back in one of his much-improved cars, it looks as if he has a couple of good lads driving for him.

Nigel Mansell was 10th, yet another lap down driving the second Essex Lotus. He did well in practice, particularly in the first session where he was 5th fastest and only 0.38 sec slower than De Angelis. He was another number two to be given wet tires for the start and on lap 4 crossed the line in 3rd place before being overtaken by Watson, then held on to 5th place for a few laps before changing his wheels on lap 17, which dropped him back to 2nd to last place in a field now reduced to 16 runners. But he climbed up to 9th before a sticking skirt gave him a handling problem and he had to have it looked at in the pits.

On the same lap as Mansell, Derek Daly was the last of those still running, driving the new March 811 car. Without the benefit of a development program behind it, the team had all manner of teething troubles to sort out in practice. The second car driven by Eliseo Salazar didn't even get an officially timed lap, the car being held up in the pits with a leaking oil tank throughout the first session and an engine blew up on him at the end of the unofficial period on the second day, and it couldn't be changed in time to allow him out in the final. Daly was stuck in the pits as well, so his grid time was not representative as he was at least 2.0 sec quicker than this in the unofficial period in the morning. In fact, in the wet Daly went extremely quickly, climbing rapidly from 10th place to 4th by lap 9. a position he held until his stop for tires on lap 18. Salazar had been allowed to start at the back of the grid but he was out before half distance with his gearbox jammed.

The Ensign, being driven by Marc Surer, has been 75 percent redesigned with only the front suspension remaining unchanged. The tub now has carbon reinforced honeycomb panels to the floor and rear bulkhead to give extra stiffness. Starting on wet tires Surer was up to 6th place before he had to stop, and then had an uneventful run until his battery shorted out on lap 59.

Lees made up the last of the 19-car field driving the Theodore Shadow which he described as "just awful." In the race not only did Lees shunt Stohr off the road but also he shunted himself off at the end of the straight when the rear end came around and he couldn't get it back. Unfortunately he was hit on the head by one of the catch poles and was carried from the car unconscious to the medical post at the corner. He recovered quite soon but was found to be suffering from amnesia and couldn't remember a thing about the start of the race or anything else. Talking to Syd Watkins, the GP drivers' doctor. I learned that no report had been sent back to race headquarters and that Lees had sat out the rest of the race at the corner where he had the accident. He was taken to the hospital on Sunday morning for a brain scan where happily it was found that no damage was done.

And what of our World Champion. Alan Jones? He was the first to stop for dry tires on lap 17 when lying 3rd after his miserable start. He rejoined the race in 10th place and 3 laps later went off line to overtake De Cesaris. Not allowing for the wetness of the off-line part of the track he spun backward into the catch fencing. He was given a push out by the marshals and rushed into his pits to have the damaged rear wing changed. But one of his skirts had also been damaged and it eventually wore out, forcing him to retire on the 62nd lap. Not a happy start to his season.

It was a good event and a great relief to see the season get under way after the eternal bickering and uncertainty of the winter. I wish that all races could be run in the relaxed and pleasant atmosphere that I so enjoyed at Kyalami, an enjoyment that seemed to be universal.

I'm looking for articles from other magazines. Can anyone help, please? Is there a chance to find lap chart of that race?

From GPI: Not the best of quality, lack of a scanner means I have resorted to using a cheap and nasty digital camera. Maybe somebody can supply a better quality lapchart.

http://i.domaindlx.c...ng/lapchart.jpg

Originally posted by cheesy poofs
What was the reasoning for Ferrari to run under the NART banner in America ?

Ferrari won the 1964 World championship with John Surtees by competing the last two races in cars painted white and blue, as these were not entered by the Italian factory themselves, but the US-based NART team. This was done as a protest concerning arguments between Ferrari and the Italian Racing Authorities regarding the homologation of a new mid-engined Ferrari race car.

Chessy Poofs:

I don't have your current email address and I would like to send you a private message.

Originally posted by St.Hubbins
From GPI: Not the best of quality, lack of a scanner means I have resorted to using a cheap and nasty digital camera. Maybe somebody can supply a better quality lapchart.

http://i.domaindlx.c...ng/lapchart.jpg

Thank you very much! Quality is good enough.

All of this has got me thinking...

I was wondering about Ferrari's participation in the 1982 Belgian GP. After GV's fatal accident, the team - electing not to run the race - packed up and left Zolder that saturday. Having qualified both cars, did that event count as a participation for the scuderia ?

Also, to my knowledge, is this the only WC event that saw no Ferraris at the start ?

No Ferraris started the 1976 Austrian GP, the race following Lauda's Nurburgring accident.

Originally posted by Kvadrat
I'm looking for articles from other magazines. Can anyone help, please? Is there a chance to find lap chart of that race?

I've got a report from CAR (South Africa) magazine with photos and also one in WIEL magazine, but for the latter you need to be fluent in Afrikaans...

Originally posted by Penword



No Ferraris started the 1976 Austrian GP, the race following Lauda's Nurburgring accident.

Weren't there a few races in 1973 they didn't bother to show up with a totally uncompetive 312B3 as well? Concentrating on updating the B3 for the final races of the season and Forghieri working on the 1974 version?

Henri

I've got 30 minutes video BBC review of the race. It was very interesting because of early rain which ended just before the race and teams and drivers faced need of right tyre choice. Some started on wet tyres and they all were in leading group. As the track was drying slick starters moved higher and cars on wet tyres lost their speed. Leader Piquet came in pits only after realized that Reutemann is right behind him and he would not go to pits.

It's interesting to see when should Piquet make his pit stop to keep right gap ahead of Reutemann. Does anyone have this race's lap times?

Originally posted by Henri Greuter



Weren't there a few races in 1973 they didn't bother to show up with a totally uncompetive 312B3 as well? Concentrating on updating the B3 for the final races of the season and Forghieri working on the 1974 version?

Henri

They also weren't at the first WC Grand Prix at Silverstone. They missed (from memory) Britain '66, South Africa '67, US '60 and '61. There may well be others, but as I say that's just off the top of my head, atm.

They also missed the 1959 British GP due to labour problems in Italy - forget the details

Originally posted by D-Type
They also missed the 1959 British GP due to labour problems in Italy - forget the details

Not enough starting money along with more than the usual turmoil within the team equated to "labor problems" I suppose.... the strikes in Italy being a convenient excuse, although such things rarely seemed to affect the team otherwise.

Caused by an outbreak of frontenginessuckitis. Cost Tony Brooks the World Title.

Originally posted by Kvadrat
I've got 30 minutes video BBC review of the race. It was very interesting because of early rain which ended just before the race and teams and drivers faced need of right tyre choice. Some started on wet tyres and they all were in leading group. As the track was drying slick starters moved higher and cars on wet tyres lost their speed. Leader Piquet came in pits only after realized that Reutemann is right behind him and he would not go to pits.

It's interesting to see when should Piquet make his pit stop to keep right gap ahead of Reutemann. Does anyone have this race's lap times?

Can you put this video?

Forza Andrea,

May be.

While traveling down memory lane I game accross this posting about the Formula 1 race at Kyalami 1981. I can't remember what the newspapers said at the time about the official status of this race and about championship points and all that but I was there and I knew it wasn't counting for the championship. I've taken some photo's from the Dunlop bridge over the start/finish straight. The circuit was still clockwise then. I also got a pic of South African Desiré Wilson going off in Wesbank corner in her Williams. Lotus raced with their silver with red lettering Essex sponsored cars, ugly compared to the black and gold of the JPS Lotus, still the most beautiful F1 cars. I wish I knew where those photo's are now. That was the very first Formula Grand Prix race I was at. I had to wait 11 years for the next one, the race at Kyalami of 1992. I was there as well as the next year. The next race I attended after that was Spa Francorchamps 2001 after I moved to the Netherlands in 1998.

Originally posted by Kvadrat
I've got 30 minutes video BBC review of the race. It was very interesting because of early rain which ended just before the race and teams and drivers faced need of right tyre choice. Some started on wet tyres and they all were in leading group. As the track was drying slick starters moved higher and cars on wet tyres lost their speed. Leader Piquet came in pits only after realized that Reutemann is right behind him and he would not go to pits.

It's interesting to see when should Piquet make his pit stop to keep right gap ahead of Reutemann. Does anyone have this race's lap times?

Could you please, pretty please put it in digital format or maybe we can arrange for you to send me a copy and I will record it to digital! As you can read here above I was actually at that race! Now if only I can find those photo's I took. I think I took less then 10 photo's with my first camera, a Kodak Instamatic. The photo's were about 7x7cm I think.

Originally posted by Rembrandt0
I also got a pic of South African Desiré Wilson going off in Wesbank corner in her Williams.

Desiré was in a Tyrrell. She had quite a race. Slow at the start...stalling, but when she got going she was very impressive. Got pass several cars, amongst them was Eddie Cheever her teammate. Think she was as high as seventh position at one time.

Originally posted by Rembrandt0
Could you please, pretty please put it in digital format or maybe we can arrange for you to send me a copy and I will record it to digital!

This should be THAT file: http://www.bigupload.com/d=790E2F99

Sorry, that was just part 1 of 2.

Here are both links for 2-part archived file of 1981 South African Grand Prix 30-minutes BBC review.

http://www.bigupload.com/d=790E2F99
http://www.bigupload.com/d=C1C90454

Thank u very much for the links but when I try to unpack the second (.r00) file it says the file is damaged or corrupt. Could you please help!

Thank you very much!!!

I just found out why I'm having trouble with the second file, it's still busy downloading!

I'm looking forward for your recollections. It will be funny if you spot yourself in somewhere on the track in this video.

I like this race because it's one of good examples of races on drying track. It's always matter of right tyre change moment choice.

Большое спасибо!

I started to watch it to see if it works. I just popped in here to let u know it worked. I remember I walked around the circuit including over it over the Dunlop Bridge. I saw Desiree Wilson crash in Marlboro Corner I think it was. Not many memories at the moment, it was after all more than 25 years ago! Interesting thing is that I've seen Nigel Mansell and Alain Prost race there 3 times. This race and in 1992 (which Mansell won) and 1993 (which Prost won).

I'm gonna watch the rest this evening and I will then let you know if I've had any more recollections.

Originally posted by Twin Window
I think that they'd lost Candy by then (to Toleman) but, as you say, they would doubtless have been influenced by their then backers Imola Ceramica.

Nevertheless, it was still a surprise that they went against BCE and co. And like I said, they paid for their actions later...

Twinny

Tyrrell lost Candy to Toleman in 1981, but poor results meant Candy was out for 1982. Tyrrell began that season with no big sponsor, cars almost totally blue if i´m not mistaken, but got Candy sponsorship again for some races starting with Imola (that's why they took part), then at Zolder. The 011s turned all blue again later and in the very last races, Italy and Las Vegas, became green with Denim sponsorship. And then, of course, Toleman got Candy back in 1983.

Originally posted by Rembrandt0
Большое спасибо!

For those who are confused by those strange symbols - they mean "Thank you very much" in Russian.

Well, Rembrandt, do you remember when it started raining? I don't think you remember when rain really stopped.