Depailler Wet Lap Montreal 1978

[muttley]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KqZBJCFS_Ng -- amazing video, I wish to share it with you. The drifting is awesome!

[Pointrox]

That's some impressive rain driving there!
I love those long slides he does on the exits, especially the one at 3:55.
So bad that today we can't see drivers really struggling to keep their cars on the track.

[AdrianSutil]

I just love how he has to steer left to turn right! Awesome sliding, Depallier was a fearless bastard!

[DOSBoot]

Ahhh...good old Ligier.

[TomWazzleshaw]

Ahhh...good old Ligier.

Don't you mean Tyrrell?

[Peter]

Ligier, Tyrell, potato, potatoe. Love them both.

I've seen this before, never fails to give me an eargasm though. Brilliant driving.

[Yannick]

When were the Montreal pits moved to their current location?

[RAK]

Bloody hell, those Cosworth DFVs sound sexy.

[midgrid]

When were the Montreal pits moved to their current location?

1988 - the reason that the 1987 race was not held was partly due to the unsatisfactory condition of the pit lane, IIRC.

[beetleman64]

I sure there's another chicane a bit after the pits interrupting the long back straight.

Anyway that's amazing driving in what would be instant red flag conditions today. Some of the powerslides are amazing, although I think I'm right in saying that Depailler was a bit of a wet weather specialist. Great footage overall.

[Vepe]

I sure there's another chicane a bit after the pits interrupting the long back straight.

Yeah, IIRC it was there up to 199x?

[midgrid]

The original circuit configuration had two additional chicanes when compared to the modern layout:


The one nearer to Épingle de l'Ile was straightened in 1988 when the pit lane and start-finish straight was moved, and the fast sweeping bends just after the Épingle des Stands hairpin were straightened out in 1996, after two years of a temporary chicane that was erected in response to the events at Imola in 1994.

The current chicane that spits cars into the "Wall of Champions" has always existed, but was tightened considerably, I believe in 1991.

[beetleman64]

The current chicane that spits cars into the "Wall of Champions" has always existed, but was tightened considerably, I believe in 1991.

And in so doing created one of the best corners in F1. Thanks.

[mario]

That clip is definitely a good reminder that, whilst we talk about the current drivers, there was a great plethora of drivers in the past who should also be remembered for their achievements. He's certainly not afraid to slide the car around the track there (even if the engine builders must have winced a bit to hear the engine bouncing off the limiter).

That's some impressive rain driving there!
I love those long slides he does on the exits, especially the one at 3:55.
So bad that today we won't be able to see drivers really struggling to keep their cars on the track.

True, although in those conditions I expect that even Mylander would struggle to keep the car on the track - and, moreover, since the Monsoon tyres were ditched long ago, I'm not sure if the teams would have any tyres which could cope with those conditions.

[eagleash]

That clip is definitely a good reminder that, whilst we talk about the current drivers, there was a great plethora of drivers in the past who should also be remembered for their achievements. He's certainly not afraid to slide the car around the track there (even if the engine builders must have winced a bit to hear the engine bouncing off the limiter).

This appears in contrast to your post of sometime last year when you questioned whether historic F1 was 'really all that great' or if it relied heavily on rose tinted specs. & a dose of nostalgia.

[mario]

That clip is definitely a good reminder that, whilst we talk about the current drivers, there was a great plethora of drivers in the past who should also be remembered for their achievements. He's certainly not afraid to slide the car around the track there (even if the engine builders must have winced a bit to hear the engine bouncing off the limiter).

This appears in contrast to your post of sometime last year when you questioned whether historic F1 was 'really all that great' or if it relied heavily on rose tinted specs. & a dose of nostalgia.

Well, I do not deny that there were a great number of drivers in that era who were quite talented (not just across F1, but most disciplines of motorsport, due to the fact that drivers were still prone to driving in multiple series and therefore transferring skills from one discipline to another).
However, what I was questioning was whether the public recollection of the quality of the racing does square up to the actual records of the time - after all, there were several years in which one team would comfortably dominate, and viewing that era through rose tinted glasses has tended to lessen the impact of some of the worst aspects of the sport at the time, from incompetent marshalling that saw several promising drivers killed or injured in preventable accidents, to widespread allegations of abusing the rules and woeful protection for drivers.