This is the racing career of Italian nobleman, Ettore Visconti. I plan to simulate his F1 career of the early 70's into the early 80's with the help of rFactor. I've already completed 1973, and only have the points finishers and memory of the races I'd done. However, I only entered the Monaco, French, British and Italian rounds in any case, so it isn't entirely noteworthy.
Ettore Visconti-A background
Ettore Visconi is a man of Italian royalty. Born into the House of Visconti, Ettore is a long descendant of the the lords which once ruled over Milan. With his father at the head of Italy's primary producer of pillows, Visconti Cuscino S.r.l, he had led a simple life of luxury with the freedom to do as he pleased. With a bank account larger than his ego, Ettore set sights on jumping into the mass hysteria that his motorsport. However, when the matter arose with his parents the family were quick to quash any chance of him entering the dizzying sport. Closing his bank account and ending his "pocket money", Ettore was left moneyless and entrapped within his rather large mansion. However, the passion to race burned deep inside of him and at the age of 20 disappeared from his home, finding residence at a hotel on the outskirts of Milan seeking to find his way into F1 without the help of money.
Setting off on his voyage into the world outside of his old Lake Garda mansion, Visconti debuted in the Italian Formula Vee championship in 1968 where he took out 2 victories in his opening season and finished a commendable 5th place. A step up to the Italian Formula 3 championship in 1969 resulted in a fairy tale season in which he won the title. Continuing in Formula 3, he finished 4th in the British championship in 1970, before changing to the European F5000 championship in 1971 where he would win it in 2 consecutive years. Some say after his 1971 championship win, he would have been in contention for a seat in 1972 had it not been for a little incident with a French beauty in 1970 leaving him a father and making sure that for the first couple of years he would be unable to travel outside of Europe.
Obviously casting a great impression over F1 bosses, March offered Ettore a one-off seat at the newly begun March team beginning their 4th season at the Monaco Grand Prix.
1973 Monaco Grand Prix
Short on money, Visconti made his own way to Monaco by car from Milan and only reaching the track on the Wednesday morning, only a day before the first practice session. Visconti was among 3 other March drivers (Mike Beuttler, James Hunt and JP Jarier), however only 1 of 2 works drivers. Immediately, Ettore's tough voyage made it difficult for him to focus his whole effort into his lap and disappointed on his first day, only setting the 20th fastest time of 24 cars. Saturday was an improvement, however, finding himself up in 16th place and ahead another rookie James Hunt and ahead of the widely experienced Mike Beuttler, making his 20th start.
Come race day, the 26 year old Italian begun to panic. With 3 drivers dying in the past 4 years in Formula 1, it was a daunting prospect. March mechanics had to force him out of the garage and into the car such were his nerves, however he severely regretted it once the race set off. On the opening lap, Visconti had gained a mass of positions and after reaching halfway distance had even managed to find himself up in the points thanks to a selection of the front runners falling beside the road with mechanical issues. Accidents also beset much of the upper half of the field, with many having to make their way to the pits for new front wings. Lapping cautiously yet carefully, Ettore had worked his way further up the order and with only a few laps remaining had passed the surprisingly strong BRM's of Jean-Pierre Beltoise and Niki Lauda for 1st position. The nerves of leading a Grand Prix race in front of the experienced Beltoise clearly reached Visconti, as he spun at La Rascasse, falling 10 seconds behind Lauda and Beltoise. Luck would again be on the Italian's side however, as on the last lap he was promoted to 2nd following the BRM's engine failing at the Ste Devote. More to the point, Visconti scored 6 points on his F1 debut at Monaco of all places!
1973 Monaco Grand Prix - Race Results
1. JP Beltoise
2. Ettore Visconti
3. Ronnie Peterson
4. Jacky Ickx
5. Niki Lauda
6. Francois Cevert
1973 World Championship of Drivers
1. Emerson Fittipaldi - 35
2. Jackie Stewart - 28
3. Francois Cevert - 19
4. JP Beltoise - 11
5. Peter Revson - 9 (1x2nd)
6. Denny Hulme - 9 (1x3rd)
7. Jacky Icxk - 8
8. Ettore Visconti - 6 (1x2nd)
9. Arturo Merzario - 6 (2x4th)
10. George Follmer - 5
11. Ronnie Peterson - 4 (1x3rd)
12. Niki Lauda - 4 (2x5th)
13. Clay Regazzoni - 1 (1x6th)
14. Wilson Fittipaldi - 1 (1x6th)
15. Chris Amon - 1 (1x6th)
International Cup for F1 Constructors
1. Lotus - 39
2. Tyrrell - 36
3. McLaren - 15
4. BRM - 14
5. Ferrari - 13
6. Brabham - 7
7. March - 6
8. Shadow - 5
9. Tecno - 1
1973 Grand Prix de France
Pre-Race
Visconti's arrogance quickly culled a speedy movement upward in Formula 1 following his impressive 2nd place at Monaco. Ettore brashly rejected a permanent deal at March, citing his reasons that March were "are a pile of $%!£" and that he would rather "drive a Datsun". The comments presented Visconti as a difficult driver to work with, and thus no other teams reached out for him. He was left without a drive for a month, missing out on the Swedish round. Brabham eventually offered him a race seat, however it was only a part time deal and as Brabham were already using 3 cars he was forced to drive in a year old Brabham BT37 run by Silvio Moser under Scuderia Finotto although it was still effectively a works seat.
A lap around Paul Ricard - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SIKHpS2z4xA
Qualifying and Race
In stronger machinery, Visconti's practice and qualifying pace was much higher than that at Monaco. In fact, Visconti was so fast he was lapping quicker than the other 3 Brabham's who were all in the new BT42's. At the end of qualifying, he had lapped quick enough to place 9th and 2 places ahead of Andrea de Adamich in the nearest BT42.
In the race, a poor start dropped Visconti to 12th before a spin on the kerbing on the outside of Beausset dropped him to 20th. Retirements of other drivers pushed Visconti up to 16th, but behind the main pack of cars which was reared by Mike Beuttler in the non-works March. He then caught Beuttler, but again spun at Beausset trying to avoid Beuttler who had exited the corner slowly. Dropping back again, he fought his way back and managed to pass Beuttler for 15th and on the final lap succeeded Jacky Ickx for 14th place after Ickx spun at Bendor, dropping him back 2 places. Ronnie Peterson led from start to finish in his JPS Lotus and won for the first time that season, backing up a 3rd at Monaco and a 2nd at his home Grand Prix at Anderstorp.
1973 Grand Prix de France Race Results
1. Ronnie Peterson (Lotus-Ford)
2. Peter Revson (McLaren-Ford)
3. Jackie Stewart (Tyrrell-Ford)
4. George Follmer (Shadow-Ford)
5. Jody Scheckter (McLaren-Ford)
6. Emerson Fittipaldi (Lotus-Ford)
1973 World Championship of F1 Drivers
1. Emerson Fittipaldi (Lotus-Ford) - 36
2. Jackie Stewart (Tyrrell-Ford) - 34
3. Francois Cevert (Tyrrell-Ford) - 23
4. Ronnie Peterson (Lotus-Ford) - 19
5. Denny Hulme (McLaren-Ford) - 18
6. Peter Revson (McLaren-Ford) - 15
7. JP Beltoise (BRM) - 11
8. Jacky Ickx (Ferrari) - 9
9. George Follmer (Shadow-Ford) - 8
10. Ettore Visconti (March-Ford/Brabham-Ford) - 6 (1x2nd)
11. Arturo Merzario (Ferrari) - 6 (2x4th)
12. Niki Lauda (BRM) - 4
13. Carlos Reutemann (Brabham-Ford) - 3 (1x4th)
=. Andrea de Adamich (Brabham-Ford) - 3 (1x4th)
15. Jody Scheckter (McLaren-Ford) - 2
16. Wilson Fittipaldi (Brabham-Ford) - 1
=. Chris Amon (Tecno) - 1
=. Clay Regazzoni (BRM) - 1
1973 International Cup for F1 Manufacturers
1. Lotus-Ford - 50 (54)
2. Tyrrell-Ford - 44 (45)
3. McLaren-Ford - 30
4. BRM - 14
5. Ferrari - 13
6. Shadow-Ford - 8
7. Brabham-Ford - 7
8. March-Ford - 6
9. Tecno - 1
The racing career of Ettore Visconti (1973-...)
The racing career of Ettore Visconti (1973-...)
Last edited by Visconti on 08 Sep 2013, 15:41, edited 3 times in total.
Re: The racing career of Ettore Visconti (1973-...)
1973 British Grand Prix
Pre-Race
The British media covered Visconti's arrival to Britain almost as widely as Jackie Stewart's. While Jackie's coverage was down to him being the home driver, Ettore's coverage was focused on a scuffle he had with James Hunt at Heathrow Airport. While at the baggage claim, Visconti tripped over James Hunt's luggage which caused Ettore to being complaining and gesturing in typical Italian fashion. Flaying his hands around, Hunt became bored and popped his fist between the Italian's forehead knocking him onto the ground before proceeding off with a leggy blonde in tow. The media made a mockery of him, and Bernie Ecclestone near cancelled his contract with him. A little persuasion from Visconti allowed Bernie to keep Visconti for the British and Italian Grand Prix only.
Qualifying and Race
Following the embarrassment at the airport, Visconti quickly made up for it and completely destroyed his Brabham team mates when he qualified 5th place,over a second ahead of De Adamich in 10th. Come race day, he impressed again and off the line was battling for the lead with Stewart, Hulme and Revson, with Regazzoni tucked in behind in 5th. However, Revson would spin early before a collision with Hulme spun both Ettore and Denny around dropping them down to 3rd and 4th. Yet another spin by Visconti left him 6th place where he would continue until the end. While he finished ahead of the works Brabhams, he in fact placed behind John Watson in another year old Brabham BT37 who finished 5th. Clay Regazzoni took a surprsing win when Stewart spun late on and Clay conservatively drove to the finish line without incident, much to the dissapointment of the British crowd.
Tragically, on his in-lap De Adamich had a suspension failure which pitched him into the barriers at a 90 degree angle, ending his single seater career.
1973 British Grand Prix Race Results
1. Clay Regazzoni (BRM)
2. Jackie Stewart (Tyrrell-Ford)
3. Denny Hulme (McLaren-Ford)
4. Jackie Oliver (Shadow-Ford)
5. John Watson (NW Brabham-Ford)
6. Ettore Visconti (Brabham-Ford)
1973 World Championship of F1 Drivers
1. Jackie Stewart (Tyrrell-Ford) - 40
2. Emerson Fittipaldi (Lotus-Ford) - 36
3. Francois Cevert (Tyrrell-Ford) - 23
4. Denny Hulme (McLaren-Ford) - 22
5. Ronnie Peterson (Lotus-Ford) - 19
6. Peter Revson (McLaren-Ford) - 15
7. JP Beltoise (BRM) - 11
8. Clay Regazzoni (BRM) - 10
9. Jacky Ickx (Ferrari) - 9
10. George Follmer (Shadow-Ford) - 8
11. Ettore Visconti (March-Ford/Brabham-Ford) - 7
12. Arturo Merzario (Ferrari) - 6
13. Niki Lauda (BRM) - 4
14. Carlos Reutemann (Brabham-Ford) - 3 (1x4th)
15. Andrea de Adamich (Brabham-Ford) - 3 (1x4th)
16. Jackie Oliver (Shadow-Ford) - 3 (1x4th)
17. Jody Scheckter (McLaren-Ford) - 2 (1x5th)
18. John Watson (NW Brabham-Ford) - 2 (1x5th)
19. Wilson Fittipaldi (Brabham-Ford) - 1
20. Chris Amon (Tecno) - 1
1973 International Cup for F1 Manufacturers
1. Lotus-Ford - 50 (54)
2. Tyrrell-Ford - 44 (45)
3. McLaren-Ford - 30
4. BRM - 14
5. Ferrari - 13
6. Shadow-Ford - 8
7. Brabham-Ford - 7
8. March-Ford - 6
9. Tecno - 1
1973 Gran Premio d'Italia
Pre-Race
Following the disaster at the Dutch Grand Prix, the paddock remained mourning even 2 months on. Jackie Stewart was on the verge of winning the title leading Emerson Fittipaldi 64 points to 37. A single point here would be enough to be classified World Champion for the 3rd time, with Fittipaldi having to hope Stewart fail to finish in all the remaining races and for him to win them. Francois Cevert, who remained 2 points behind Fittipaldi but out of the title race, was set to take over the reigns at Tyrrell after rumours surfaced that Stewart was to retire by the end of the season at the US Grand Prix, where he would claim his 100th race start, whether he win or lose. This was not confirmed, nor denied by either Jackie or Ken Tyrrell.
Meanwhile, Visconti's welcome in Italy was much greater than any other driver. With Ferrari languishing in 5th place in the constructors with Ickx only scoring enough points to have placed 8th (along with 3 points at McLaren) and fellow-Italian Merzario only managing 6 points to place 12th, Visconti was the strongest Italian performer and hopes were high for him to repeat the Monaco magic. To add to that, he was now driving in a works-registered BT42, leaving Scuderia Finotto who were planning
Qualifying and Race
Excessive partying on Thursday into the early hours of Friday led to him forgetting about practice, and to compact problems his hangover on Saturday and lack of practice meant he only managed to qualify in the midfield. A strong start in the race however meant that he soon made it up to 6th place and behind Niki Lauda who was starring in his BRM. Rumours suggested he would be moving to the struggling Italian fan favourite, Ferrari, for 1974 and support for him almost equalled that of Visconti's. Despite this, Ettore would eventually win out on the battle and proceeded to chase down the leading 4 drivers who had begun a drafting battle. The pace of the leading cars on the straight was too much for the Brabham which did not have a drafting partner after Lauda spun it at the new Ascari chicane, leaving him to finish in 5th, receiving much applause for the valiant homeground effort. An incredible battle saw Chris Amon driving for Tyrrell in a 3 race deal score his first win, breaking a 90 race duck. Following him over the lin was Clay Regazzoni who, like Lauda, was also set to join Scuderia Ferrari and was met to much applause with his podium.
Also in the 4 car battle was Jackie Stewart who crossed the line 3rd, and succeeded in winning his 3rd title beating Fittipaldi 2 rounds early. Tyrrell wrapped up the Constructors title as well, as they beat Lotus 83 points to 60.
1973 Gran Premio d'Italia Race Results
1. Chris Amon
2. Clay Regazzoni
3. Jackie Stewart
4. Brian Redman
5. Ettore Visconti
6. Niki Lauda
Tragedy at the US GP
Francois Cevert would not survive a large accident at the Watkins Glen up hill esses during practice. Tyrrell would pull out of the Grand Prix, ending Jackie Stewart's career prematurely. Ronnie Peterson would go on to win the tragic season finale, yet all 3 podium finishers refused to celebrate.
1973 World Championship for Drivers Final Standings
1. Jackie Stewart (Tyrrell-Ford) - 70
2. Emerson Fittipaldi (Lotus-Ford) - 44
3. Ronnie Peterson (Lotus-Ford) - 37
4. Francois Cevert (Tyrrell-Ford) - 35
5. Peter Revson (McLaren-Ford) - 20
6. Denny Hulme (McLaren-Ford) - 25
7. JP Beltoise (BRM) - 18
8. Clay Regazzoni (BRM) - 17
9. Jacky Ickx (Ferrari/McLaren-Ford) - 13
10. Chris Amon (Tecno/Tyrrell-Ford) - 10 (1x1st)
11. James Hunt (Hesketh March-Ford) - 10 (1x2nd, 1x3rd)
12. Carlos Reutemann (Brabham-Ford) - 10 (1x3rd)
13. Ettore Visconti (March-Ford/Brabham-Ford) - 9
14. George Follmer (Shadow-Ford) - 8
15. Carlos Pace (Surtees-Ford) - 7
16. Jackie Oliver (Shadow-Ford) - 7
17. Arturo Merzario (Ferrari) - 6
18. Niki Lauda (BRM) - 5
19. Wilson Fittipaldi (Brabham-Ford) - 3 (1x5th, 1x6th)
20. Andrea de Adamich (Brabham-Ford) - 3 (1x4th)
21. Brian Redman (Shadow-Ford) - 3 (1x4th)
22. Jody Scheckter (McLaren-Ford) - 2 (1x5th)
23. John Watson (NW Brabham-Ford) - 2 (1x5th)
24. Gijs van Lennep (Iso Marlboro-Ford) - 1
25. Howden Ganley (Iso Marlboro-Ford
1973 International Cup for Manufacturers Final Standings
1. Tyrrell-Ford - 85 (86)
2. Lotus-Ford - 75 (79)
3. McLaren-Ford - 52
4. BRM - 34
5. Brabham-Ford - 20
6. Shadow-Ford - 18
7. Ferrari - 13
8. Hesketh-Ford - 10
9. Surtees-Ford - 7
10. March-Ford - 6
11. Iso Marlboro-Ford - 2
12. Tecno - 1
P.S. 1974 will feature better written race reports, I have written 1973 virtually off memory as a lapse in concentration meant I didn't save the race results.
Pre-Race
The British media covered Visconti's arrival to Britain almost as widely as Jackie Stewart's. While Jackie's coverage was down to him being the home driver, Ettore's coverage was focused on a scuffle he had with James Hunt at Heathrow Airport. While at the baggage claim, Visconti tripped over James Hunt's luggage which caused Ettore to being complaining and gesturing in typical Italian fashion. Flaying his hands around, Hunt became bored and popped his fist between the Italian's forehead knocking him onto the ground before proceeding off with a leggy blonde in tow. The media made a mockery of him, and Bernie Ecclestone near cancelled his contract with him. A little persuasion from Visconti allowed Bernie to keep Visconti for the British and Italian Grand Prix only.
Qualifying and Race
Following the embarrassment at the airport, Visconti quickly made up for it and completely destroyed his Brabham team mates when he qualified 5th place,over a second ahead of De Adamich in 10th. Come race day, he impressed again and off the line was battling for the lead with Stewart, Hulme and Revson, with Regazzoni tucked in behind in 5th. However, Revson would spin early before a collision with Hulme spun both Ettore and Denny around dropping them down to 3rd and 4th. Yet another spin by Visconti left him 6th place where he would continue until the end. While he finished ahead of the works Brabhams, he in fact placed behind John Watson in another year old Brabham BT37 who finished 5th. Clay Regazzoni took a surprsing win when Stewart spun late on and Clay conservatively drove to the finish line without incident, much to the dissapointment of the British crowd.
Tragically, on his in-lap De Adamich had a suspension failure which pitched him into the barriers at a 90 degree angle, ending his single seater career.
1973 British Grand Prix Race Results
1. Clay Regazzoni (BRM)
2. Jackie Stewart (Tyrrell-Ford)
3. Denny Hulme (McLaren-Ford)
4. Jackie Oliver (Shadow-Ford)
5. John Watson (NW Brabham-Ford)
6. Ettore Visconti (Brabham-Ford)
1973 World Championship of F1 Drivers
1. Jackie Stewart (Tyrrell-Ford) - 40
2. Emerson Fittipaldi (Lotus-Ford) - 36
3. Francois Cevert (Tyrrell-Ford) - 23
4. Denny Hulme (McLaren-Ford) - 22
5. Ronnie Peterson (Lotus-Ford) - 19
6. Peter Revson (McLaren-Ford) - 15
7. JP Beltoise (BRM) - 11
8. Clay Regazzoni (BRM) - 10
9. Jacky Ickx (Ferrari) - 9
10. George Follmer (Shadow-Ford) - 8
11. Ettore Visconti (March-Ford/Brabham-Ford) - 7
12. Arturo Merzario (Ferrari) - 6
13. Niki Lauda (BRM) - 4
14. Carlos Reutemann (Brabham-Ford) - 3 (1x4th)
15. Andrea de Adamich (Brabham-Ford) - 3 (1x4th)
16. Jackie Oliver (Shadow-Ford) - 3 (1x4th)
17. Jody Scheckter (McLaren-Ford) - 2 (1x5th)
18. John Watson (NW Brabham-Ford) - 2 (1x5th)
19. Wilson Fittipaldi (Brabham-Ford) - 1
20. Chris Amon (Tecno) - 1
1973 International Cup for F1 Manufacturers
1. Lotus-Ford - 50 (54)
2. Tyrrell-Ford - 44 (45)
3. McLaren-Ford - 30
4. BRM - 14
5. Ferrari - 13
6. Shadow-Ford - 8
7. Brabham-Ford - 7
8. March-Ford - 6
9. Tecno - 1
1973 Gran Premio d'Italia
Pre-Race
Following the disaster at the Dutch Grand Prix, the paddock remained mourning even 2 months on. Jackie Stewart was on the verge of winning the title leading Emerson Fittipaldi 64 points to 37. A single point here would be enough to be classified World Champion for the 3rd time, with Fittipaldi having to hope Stewart fail to finish in all the remaining races and for him to win them. Francois Cevert, who remained 2 points behind Fittipaldi but out of the title race, was set to take over the reigns at Tyrrell after rumours surfaced that Stewart was to retire by the end of the season at the US Grand Prix, where he would claim his 100th race start, whether he win or lose. This was not confirmed, nor denied by either Jackie or Ken Tyrrell.
Meanwhile, Visconti's welcome in Italy was much greater than any other driver. With Ferrari languishing in 5th place in the constructors with Ickx only scoring enough points to have placed 8th (along with 3 points at McLaren) and fellow-Italian Merzario only managing 6 points to place 12th, Visconti was the strongest Italian performer and hopes were high for him to repeat the Monaco magic. To add to that, he was now driving in a works-registered BT42, leaving Scuderia Finotto who were planning
Qualifying and Race
Excessive partying on Thursday into the early hours of Friday led to him forgetting about practice, and to compact problems his hangover on Saturday and lack of practice meant he only managed to qualify in the midfield. A strong start in the race however meant that he soon made it up to 6th place and behind Niki Lauda who was starring in his BRM. Rumours suggested he would be moving to the struggling Italian fan favourite, Ferrari, for 1974 and support for him almost equalled that of Visconti's. Despite this, Ettore would eventually win out on the battle and proceeded to chase down the leading 4 drivers who had begun a drafting battle. The pace of the leading cars on the straight was too much for the Brabham which did not have a drafting partner after Lauda spun it at the new Ascari chicane, leaving him to finish in 5th, receiving much applause for the valiant homeground effort. An incredible battle saw Chris Amon driving for Tyrrell in a 3 race deal score his first win, breaking a 90 race duck. Following him over the lin was Clay Regazzoni who, like Lauda, was also set to join Scuderia Ferrari and was met to much applause with his podium.
Also in the 4 car battle was Jackie Stewart who crossed the line 3rd, and succeeded in winning his 3rd title beating Fittipaldi 2 rounds early. Tyrrell wrapped up the Constructors title as well, as they beat Lotus 83 points to 60.
1973 Gran Premio d'Italia Race Results
1. Chris Amon
2. Clay Regazzoni
3. Jackie Stewart
4. Brian Redman
5. Ettore Visconti
6. Niki Lauda
Tragedy at the US GP
Francois Cevert would not survive a large accident at the Watkins Glen up hill esses during practice. Tyrrell would pull out of the Grand Prix, ending Jackie Stewart's career prematurely. Ronnie Peterson would go on to win the tragic season finale, yet all 3 podium finishers refused to celebrate.
1973 World Championship for Drivers Final Standings
1. Jackie Stewart (Tyrrell-Ford) - 70
2. Emerson Fittipaldi (Lotus-Ford) - 44
3. Ronnie Peterson (Lotus-Ford) - 37
4. Francois Cevert (Tyrrell-Ford) - 35
5. Peter Revson (McLaren-Ford) - 20
6. Denny Hulme (McLaren-Ford) - 25
7. JP Beltoise (BRM) - 18
8. Clay Regazzoni (BRM) - 17
9. Jacky Ickx (Ferrari/McLaren-Ford) - 13
10. Chris Amon (Tecno/Tyrrell-Ford) - 10 (1x1st)
11. James Hunt (Hesketh March-Ford) - 10 (1x2nd, 1x3rd)
12. Carlos Reutemann (Brabham-Ford) - 10 (1x3rd)
13. Ettore Visconti (March-Ford/Brabham-Ford) - 9
14. George Follmer (Shadow-Ford) - 8
15. Carlos Pace (Surtees-Ford) - 7
16. Jackie Oliver (Shadow-Ford) - 7
17. Arturo Merzario (Ferrari) - 6
18. Niki Lauda (BRM) - 5
19. Wilson Fittipaldi (Brabham-Ford) - 3 (1x5th, 1x6th)
20. Andrea de Adamich (Brabham-Ford) - 3 (1x4th)
21. Brian Redman (Shadow-Ford) - 3 (1x4th)
22. Jody Scheckter (McLaren-Ford) - 2 (1x5th)
23. John Watson (NW Brabham-Ford) - 2 (1x5th)
24. Gijs van Lennep (Iso Marlboro-Ford) - 1
25. Howden Ganley (Iso Marlboro-Ford
1973 International Cup for Manufacturers Final Standings
1. Tyrrell-Ford - 85 (86)
2. Lotus-Ford - 75 (79)
3. McLaren-Ford - 52
4. BRM - 34
5. Brabham-Ford - 20
6. Shadow-Ford - 18
7. Ferrari - 13
8. Hesketh-Ford - 10
9. Surtees-Ford - 7
10. March-Ford - 6
11. Iso Marlboro-Ford - 2
12. Tecno - 1
P.S. 1974 will feature better written race reports, I have written 1973 virtually off memory as a lapse in concentration meant I didn't save the race results.
Re: The racing career of Ettore Visconti (1973-...)
Autosport Magazine - 10th January 1974 - Francois Cevert: Remembered by the drivers of 1973
A Preview of the 1974 Formula One World Championship
The 1974 World Championship will begin later this January in Argentina, where Formula One will make their first start on the latest of configurations at the Buenos Aires circuit in Argentina. With a total of 26 cars registered to enter the first Grand Prix of the 1974 championship, Autosport takes a look at the drivers, teams, constructors and tracks of this year.
John Player Team Lotus
Chassis-72E, 76
Engine-Ford Cosworth DFV
1. Ronnie Peterson
2. Carlos Reutemann
31. Jacky Ickx
Ronnie Peterson will start another season in the team he joined last season, driving the 72E with the possibility to drive the newly introduced 76 chassis which Jacky Ickx, moving from Ferrari and McLaren, will pilot for the entirety of the season in a 3rd JPS Lotus. Carlos Reutemann will make his start in a 72E at his home grand prix in Argentina, moving from Brabham where he failed to find success.
Elf Team Tyrrell
Chassis-005,006
Engine-Ford Cosworth DFV
3. Jody Scheckter
4. Patrick Depailler
After the tragic end to what was otherwise a vintage year of Tyrrell, they return in 1974 with an entirely new line-up including Jody Scheckter who will make his first start of 1974 in the new Tyrrell 006, while French man Patrick Depailler will return to Tyrrell following a years absence in Formula 2 to pilot last years 005 chassis for the early races of this season. Much is expected of them after the success Stewart and Cevert achieved with these cars.
Marlboro Team Texaco
Chassis-M23
Engine-Ford Cosworth DFV
5. Emerson Fittipaldi
6. Denny Hulme
33. Mike Hailwood
McLaren finished last season competitively with the introduction of the new wedge shaped M23 chassis. While Peter Revson leaves the team, 1972 World Champion Emerson and 1973 Vice-World Champion will join the team in number 5 car. Denny Hulme and Mike Hailwood both remain with the team, driving the other 2 McLaren's this season. McLaren are expected to challenge more hardily for the championship this year.
Motor Racing Developments
Chassis-BT44
Engine-Ford Cosworth DFV
7. Ettore Visconti
8. Richard Robarts
A surprising choice for the legendary Brabham team who, after a tough 1973 campaign, will see an entirely new set of drivers to pilot the latest in Ron Tauranac's creations, have selected relatively unproven drivers in Ettore Visconti and Richard Robarts. Visconti scored a podium in his debut start as well as points in 2 of his other 3 races, however Richard Robarts will make his way into the team bringing with him a significant amount of money with him.
March Engineering
Chassis-741
Engine-Ford Cosworth DFV
9. Hans-Joachim Stuck
10. Howden Ganley
March return for 1974 with high promise after scoring their first podium at the Monaco Grand Prix since the 1972 German Grand Prix a year before. Talented Kiwi Howden Ganley will join March looking for more success than he found driving for Frank Williams. Meanwhile, talented Formula 2 driver Hans-Joachim Stuck will drive for March in both the Formula 1 and Formula 2 championships.
Scuderia Ferrari SpA SEFAC
Chassis-312B3
Engine-Ferrari 001/11
11. Clay Regazzoni
12. Niki Lauda
Following Ferrari's first winless season since 1969, BRM team mates change ship to the famed Ferrari team. With Niki Lauda being impressive over a single lap throughout 1973, often out qualifying his team mates, and with Clay Regazzoni having won the British Grand Prix much is expected should the updated 312B3 chassis be strong enough to compete toward the front. Ferrari is one of only two teams which will compete using self built engines, the other being BRM.
Team Motul BRM
Chassis-P160E
Engine-BRM P142
14. Jean-Pierre Beltoise
15. Henri Pescarolo
37. Francois Migault
After BRM exceeded expectations in the previous season, doubt falls on the drivers who join the highly rated Jean-Pierre Beltoise. While Beltoise is expected to compete toward the front, Pescarolo and Migault. While Pescarolo has won the Le Mans 24 Hours, doing so in 1972 and 1973 for Matra, his F1 showings failed to impress many after being sorely beaten by then-Matra and now-BRM team mate Beltoise quite severely, with Pescarolo only achieving half of the points Beltoise had to show with at the end of the season.
UOP Shadow Racing Team
Chassis-DN1,DN3
Engine-Ford Cosworth DFV
16. Peter Revson
17. Jean-Pierre Jarier
Shadow could prove to be a top contender in their 2nd year. One of the most exciting and talented American's of recent years, Peter Revson, joins the team. Having won last year and being incredibly exciting to have watched over the course of the past 2 years, much more is expected of him. Meanwhile, France's equally as exciting and impressive next talent, Jean-Pierre Jarier, will also join the team.
Team Surtees
Chassis-TS16
Engine-Ford Cosworth DFV
18. Carlos Pace
Only entering a single car, Surtees will start their 5 year in Formula 1. Formed by legendary driver of both 4 and 2 wheels, John Surtees, the team has yet to show race winning form yet. Surtees hope that young Carlos Pace of Brazil will be the key to succees at the top level of the sport. The new TS16 chassis could even prove to be a race winning car, self designed by John Surtees himself.
Iso-Marlboro
Chassis-FW
Engine-Ford Cosworth DFV
20. Arturo Merzario
Ex-Ferrari driver and Targa Florio champion, Arturo Merzario, will join Frank Williams' team for 1974. Frank Williams Racing Cars, competing under Iso-Marlboro due to chassis development and sponsorship reasons. Sporadic points appearances may be on the cards in John Clarke's latest car.
Team Ensign
Chassis-N174
Engine-Ford Cosworth DFV
22. Rikky von Opel
Heir to the Opel throne, Rikky von Opel will bring money to the up and coming Ensign team. Morris Nunn's F1 project started unsuccesfully last year, money from Opel could propel the team further up the grid.
Hesketh Racing
Chassis-731
Engine-Ford Cosworth DFV
24. James Hunt
Lord Hesketh and James Hunt bring an air of luxury wherever they travel. The sound of champagne corks popping are usually that of the Hesketh garage, no matter the result of the weekend, and more-or-less impressed throughout last season. James Hunt has proved to be an incredibly capable driver and is set to compete at the front of the midfield.
Embassy Racing with Graham Hill
Chassis-T370
Engine-Ford Cosworth DFV
26. Graham Hill
27. Guy Edwards
Following a dismal year for the 2 time world champion and Le Mans 24 Hour winner, Graham Hill, the team have acquired chassis from Lola into 1974. Embassy-Hill were one of only a set few constructors who did not score a single point last season, with a highest position of 9th achieved by Hill at the Belgian Grand Prix where he finished last of the finishers.
John Goldie Racing with Hexagon
Chassis-BT42
Engine-Ford Cosworth DFV
28. John Watson
John Watson and John Goldie Racing both made their presence known last year with a commendable 5th place on their debut start in a custome Brabham BT37. This year Paul Michaels has acquired Brabham's old BT42 chassis which Carlos Reutemann drove to 3rd place in the US Grand Prix. Few would be surprised should John Watson be able to score even a podium in 1974.
Remembering Cevert
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YPYzUtU8Xrg
Ettore Visconti on Francois Cevert to Autosport wrote:We were good friends. I first competed with him in Formula 3 back a few years, we stayed in contact and when I made it to Formula 1 it was Francois Cevert who was the first to congratulate me. Losing the only person I know well in this business, it's very tough. I can't imagine how it was for those at Tyrrell though.
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takagi_for_the_win
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Re: The racing career of Ettore Visconti (1973-...)
1974 Gran Premio de la Republica Argentina
Season info:
Mod-F1 1974 with personal edit physics
Difficulty-110%
Aggression-100%
Race Distance-25% (I may increase to 50%, but I rarely have the time)
Pre-Race
After showing flashes of speed in 1973, the inconsitent Italian Ettore Visconti was signed permanently at Brabham replacing Carlos Reutemann, who left to drive for Lotus. Joining Reutemann at Lotus was Jacky Ickx a 3rd car, while Ronnie Peterson would remain at the team following Emerson Fittpaldi's move to McLaren. Hulme and Hailwood would both drive in the other 2 cars at McLaren, while Ferrari would start with an entirely new line-up with Niki Lauda and Clay Regazzoni. Tyrrell would also employ the impressive yet over aggressive Jody Scheckter, and Frenchman Patrick Depailler would make his second attempt in Formula One with Tyrrell again who had been called up following the depressing accident at the United States Grand Prix which killed the Francois Cevert.
Following the fatal accidents of Roger Williamson at Zandvoort and Francois Cevert at Watkins Glen, it came as little surprise that the Grand Prix Drivers' Association, and in particular Jackie Stewart, requested imminent changes to be made to the more dangerous circuits such as Zandvoort and the Nordschleife, where an increased number of guard rails were put in place and the usage of sandy surfaces were implemented with the intent to slow the cars down.
For 1974, Formula One would visit Buenos Aires' No. 15 configuration for the first time which would be used up until the track lost it's place on the Grand Prix calendar in 1981.
For Ettore Visconti, the season looked bright. Driving for such a name as great as Brabham, a team which had won World Championships with Jack Brabham and Denny Hulme, Visconti emerged a potential contender for the 1974 World Championship, albeit as an outsider. Ettore was at his happiest in his life; an F1 driver, a new suit and now, following his marriage to the mother of his son, a married man.
Practice
Ferrari appeared to have upped their pace considerably since 1973 when they failed to score a single race victory. Niki Lauda set the pace immediately and by the end of practice had set a time of 1:51.736, 0.867 seconds faster than Emerson Fittipaldi in the first of the three McLaren M23's. Denny Hulme followed Fittipaldi into 3rd place at the end of practice with a 1:52.857 ahead of the two Brabham BT44's of Ettore Visconti and Richard Robarts. Scheckter was the first of the Tyrrell's and Hailwood was 7th in the third McLaren M23. The March's of Hans Stuck, Howden Ganley and James Hunt placed 8th-10th, with Hunt the slowest in the 1 year old March 731G at 3 seconds away from Niki Lauda in the Ferrari. Clay Regazzoni had a dismal practice and finished 4.288 seconds away from the lead Ferrari down in 18th. The driver who received the Reject Award for this session was Arturo Merzario in 24th and last driving for Iso-Marlboro-Williams with a time of 1:58.197, a whole 6.46 seconds from Niki Lauda and 0.7 seconds from the Lola T370 of Guy Edwards in 23rd.
Qualifying
Niki Lauda was once again the most superior driver in qualifying and took home his first pole position with a time of 1:52.110, which was surprsingly 4 tenths slower than his practice time. Improving from his difficult first experience in the Ferrari 312B3, Clay Regazzoni made it to 2nd only 0.040 from Lauda in the other Ferrari. The Ferrari's really were a class of their own, with the closest driver to breaking the 1:52 barrier apart from the Ferrari's being Ettore Visconti with 1:53.223. Initally, Visconti had held the 2nd fastest time until Clay surpassed the time in the final minutes of the session. A further 5 tenths away from Visconti was Scheckter in the Tyrrell, while McLaren suffered a difficult session with Hailwood placing as highest in 5th, and Fittipaldi and Hulme in 8th and 10th respectively. Richard Robarts in the second works-Brabham was 6th place, setting a 1:53.931, while John Watson in the John Goldie Racing BT42 was 13th place. This time in last place was James Hunt, a massive 18.636 seconds off of Lauda after setting only one timed lap in qualifying following a shunt on his second flying lap. The driver who previously occupied the bottom spot, Arturo Merzario, finished 23rd and was again over 6 seconds away from the Ferrari's and 0.6 from Guy Edwards in the slower of the 2 Embassy Lola's.
1. Niki Lauda (Ferrari) - 1:52.110
2. Clay Regazzoni (Ferrari) - 1:52.151
3. Ettore Visconti (Brabham-Ford) - 1:53.223
4. Jody Scheckter (Tyrrell-Ford) - 1:53.720
5. Mike Hailwood (McLaren-Ford) - 1:53.818
6. Richard Robarts (Brabham-Ford) - 1:53.931
7. Howden Ganley (March-Ford) - 1:53.986
8. Emerson Fittipaldi (McLaren-Ford) - 1:53.989
9. Hans Stuck (March-Ford) - 1:54.537
10. Denny Hulme (McLaren-Ford) - 1:54.602
13. John Watson (NW Brabham-Ford) - 1:54.947
(NW - Non-Works)
Race
Ettore Visconti took off well, moving ahead of both Ferrari's however he clattered the inside kerb into the first corner and managed to spin the car 360 degrees in front of the pack. Despite 23 cars following the Brabham into the corner, no further accidents occured and Visconti was able to drive away from the spin behind Richard Robarts' Brabham in 5th place. Regazzoni now held the lead in front of Scheckter who had made it past Lauda, however Lauda would then spin the car at Turn 5. While Visconti avoided the spinning Austrian, Robarts' could not and collected the Ferrari. Robarts and Lauda both damaged their front wings, leading them to have to pit for new wings. This dropped them both to 15th and 16th.
Meanwhile out front, Regazzoni had pulled a massive 12 second gap over Scheckter and Visconti who were engaged in a fight for 2nd. Eventually, the Italian would prevail however Jody would follow him, behind by only 2 seconds. However, with a low attrition rate Regazzoni would quickly come upon a massive train of 12 cars from 13th to 24th, led by Mike Hailwood in the McLaren. Regazzoni was held up by the train of backmarkers, and both Visconti and Scheckter quickly closed down the gap catching him with 3 laps to spare. The 3 drivers were clearly much stronger than the rest of the field, with Hulme over 20 seconds away from them with Fittipaldi a further 25 seconds behind. Niki Lauda had pushed on and had made it up to 6th by this time.
Regazzoni, who had now lost his massive lead held on with Visconti unable to find a way through. A mistake into Turn 14 by Visconti put him wide and off the track, giving Scheckter 2nd on the penultimate lap. Ettore would quickly catch up the 2 leaders who were still struggling to get through the traffic, and onto the backstraight Visconti made it past Scheckter. And Regazzoni would then lose the lead into the final corner, even though Visconti had ran into the back of Arturo Merzario and had lost his front wing. Visconti would hold the lead and crossed the line 0.583 ahead of Regazzoni and 0.838 ahead of Scheckter.
1974 Argentine Grand Prix - Race Results
1. Ettore Visconti (Brabham-Ford) - 25:20.919
2. Clay Regazzoni (Ferrari) - +0:00.563
3. Jody Scheckter (Tyrrell-Ford) - +0:00.838
4. Denny Hulme (McLaren-Ford) - +0:26.478
5. Emerson Fittipaldi (McLaren-Ford) - +0:51.960
6. Niki Lauda (Ferrari) - +0:55.051
7. Howden Ganley (March-Ford) - +1:41.676
8. Henri Pescarolo (BRM) - +1:46.738
9. Rikki von Opel (Ensign-Ford) - +1:46.738
10. Peter Revson (Shadow-Ford) - +1:53.488
11. Richard Robarts (Brabham-Ford) - +1:55.200
19. John Watson (NW Brabham-Ford) - +2:15.097
1974 World Championship of F1 Drivers
1. Ettore Visconti - 9
2. Clay Regazzoni - 6
3. Jody Scheckter - 4
4. Denny Hulme - 3
5. Emerson Fittipaldi - 2
6. Niki Lauda - 1
1974 International Cup for F1 Constructors
1. Brabham-Ford - 9
2. Ferrari - 6
3. Tyrrell-Ford - 4
4. McLaren-Ford - 3
Season info:
Mod-F1 1974 with personal edit physics
Difficulty-110%
Aggression-100%
Race Distance-25% (I may increase to 50%, but I rarely have the time)
Pre-Race
After showing flashes of speed in 1973, the inconsitent Italian Ettore Visconti was signed permanently at Brabham replacing Carlos Reutemann, who left to drive for Lotus. Joining Reutemann at Lotus was Jacky Ickx a 3rd car, while Ronnie Peterson would remain at the team following Emerson Fittpaldi's move to McLaren. Hulme and Hailwood would both drive in the other 2 cars at McLaren, while Ferrari would start with an entirely new line-up with Niki Lauda and Clay Regazzoni. Tyrrell would also employ the impressive yet over aggressive Jody Scheckter, and Frenchman Patrick Depailler would make his second attempt in Formula One with Tyrrell again who had been called up following the depressing accident at the United States Grand Prix which killed the Francois Cevert.
Following the fatal accidents of Roger Williamson at Zandvoort and Francois Cevert at Watkins Glen, it came as little surprise that the Grand Prix Drivers' Association, and in particular Jackie Stewart, requested imminent changes to be made to the more dangerous circuits such as Zandvoort and the Nordschleife, where an increased number of guard rails were put in place and the usage of sandy surfaces were implemented with the intent to slow the cars down.
For 1974, Formula One would visit Buenos Aires' No. 15 configuration for the first time which would be used up until the track lost it's place on the Grand Prix calendar in 1981.
For Ettore Visconti, the season looked bright. Driving for such a name as great as Brabham, a team which had won World Championships with Jack Brabham and Denny Hulme, Visconti emerged a potential contender for the 1974 World Championship, albeit as an outsider. Ettore was at his happiest in his life; an F1 driver, a new suit and now, following his marriage to the mother of his son, a married man.
Practice
Ferrari appeared to have upped their pace considerably since 1973 when they failed to score a single race victory. Niki Lauda set the pace immediately and by the end of practice had set a time of 1:51.736, 0.867 seconds faster than Emerson Fittipaldi in the first of the three McLaren M23's. Denny Hulme followed Fittipaldi into 3rd place at the end of practice with a 1:52.857 ahead of the two Brabham BT44's of Ettore Visconti and Richard Robarts. Scheckter was the first of the Tyrrell's and Hailwood was 7th in the third McLaren M23. The March's of Hans Stuck, Howden Ganley and James Hunt placed 8th-10th, with Hunt the slowest in the 1 year old March 731G at 3 seconds away from Niki Lauda in the Ferrari. Clay Regazzoni had a dismal practice and finished 4.288 seconds away from the lead Ferrari down in 18th. The driver who received the Reject Award for this session was Arturo Merzario in 24th and last driving for Iso-Marlboro-Williams with a time of 1:58.197, a whole 6.46 seconds from Niki Lauda and 0.7 seconds from the Lola T370 of Guy Edwards in 23rd.
Qualifying
Niki Lauda was once again the most superior driver in qualifying and took home his first pole position with a time of 1:52.110, which was surprsingly 4 tenths slower than his practice time. Improving from his difficult first experience in the Ferrari 312B3, Clay Regazzoni made it to 2nd only 0.040 from Lauda in the other Ferrari. The Ferrari's really were a class of their own, with the closest driver to breaking the 1:52 barrier apart from the Ferrari's being Ettore Visconti with 1:53.223. Initally, Visconti had held the 2nd fastest time until Clay surpassed the time in the final minutes of the session. A further 5 tenths away from Visconti was Scheckter in the Tyrrell, while McLaren suffered a difficult session with Hailwood placing as highest in 5th, and Fittipaldi and Hulme in 8th and 10th respectively. Richard Robarts in the second works-Brabham was 6th place, setting a 1:53.931, while John Watson in the John Goldie Racing BT42 was 13th place. This time in last place was James Hunt, a massive 18.636 seconds off of Lauda after setting only one timed lap in qualifying following a shunt on his second flying lap. The driver who previously occupied the bottom spot, Arturo Merzario, finished 23rd and was again over 6 seconds away from the Ferrari's and 0.6 from Guy Edwards in the slower of the 2 Embassy Lola's.
1. Niki Lauda (Ferrari) - 1:52.110
2. Clay Regazzoni (Ferrari) - 1:52.151
3. Ettore Visconti (Brabham-Ford) - 1:53.223
4. Jody Scheckter (Tyrrell-Ford) - 1:53.720
5. Mike Hailwood (McLaren-Ford) - 1:53.818
6. Richard Robarts (Brabham-Ford) - 1:53.931
7. Howden Ganley (March-Ford) - 1:53.986
8. Emerson Fittipaldi (McLaren-Ford) - 1:53.989
9. Hans Stuck (March-Ford) - 1:54.537
10. Denny Hulme (McLaren-Ford) - 1:54.602
13. John Watson (NW Brabham-Ford) - 1:54.947
(NW - Non-Works)
Race
Ettore Visconti took off well, moving ahead of both Ferrari's however he clattered the inside kerb into the first corner and managed to spin the car 360 degrees in front of the pack. Despite 23 cars following the Brabham into the corner, no further accidents occured and Visconti was able to drive away from the spin behind Richard Robarts' Brabham in 5th place. Regazzoni now held the lead in front of Scheckter who had made it past Lauda, however Lauda would then spin the car at Turn 5. While Visconti avoided the spinning Austrian, Robarts' could not and collected the Ferrari. Robarts and Lauda both damaged their front wings, leading them to have to pit for new wings. This dropped them both to 15th and 16th.
Meanwhile out front, Regazzoni had pulled a massive 12 second gap over Scheckter and Visconti who were engaged in a fight for 2nd. Eventually, the Italian would prevail however Jody would follow him, behind by only 2 seconds. However, with a low attrition rate Regazzoni would quickly come upon a massive train of 12 cars from 13th to 24th, led by Mike Hailwood in the McLaren. Regazzoni was held up by the train of backmarkers, and both Visconti and Scheckter quickly closed down the gap catching him with 3 laps to spare. The 3 drivers were clearly much stronger than the rest of the field, with Hulme over 20 seconds away from them with Fittipaldi a further 25 seconds behind. Niki Lauda had pushed on and had made it up to 6th by this time.
Regazzoni, who had now lost his massive lead held on with Visconti unable to find a way through. A mistake into Turn 14 by Visconti put him wide and off the track, giving Scheckter 2nd on the penultimate lap. Ettore would quickly catch up the 2 leaders who were still struggling to get through the traffic, and onto the backstraight Visconti made it past Scheckter. And Regazzoni would then lose the lead into the final corner, even though Visconti had ran into the back of Arturo Merzario and had lost his front wing. Visconti would hold the lead and crossed the line 0.583 ahead of Regazzoni and 0.838 ahead of Scheckter.
1974 Argentine Grand Prix - Race Results
1. Ettore Visconti (Brabham-Ford) - 25:20.919
2. Clay Regazzoni (Ferrari) - +0:00.563
3. Jody Scheckter (Tyrrell-Ford) - +0:00.838
4. Denny Hulme (McLaren-Ford) - +0:26.478
5. Emerson Fittipaldi (McLaren-Ford) - +0:51.960
6. Niki Lauda (Ferrari) - +0:55.051
7. Howden Ganley (March-Ford) - +1:41.676
8. Henri Pescarolo (BRM) - +1:46.738
9. Rikki von Opel (Ensign-Ford) - +1:46.738
10. Peter Revson (Shadow-Ford) - +1:53.488
11. Richard Robarts (Brabham-Ford) - +1:55.200
19. John Watson (NW Brabham-Ford) - +2:15.097
1974 World Championship of F1 Drivers
1. Ettore Visconti - 9
2. Clay Regazzoni - 6
3. Jody Scheckter - 4
4. Denny Hulme - 3
5. Emerson Fittipaldi - 2
6. Niki Lauda - 1
1974 International Cup for F1 Constructors
1. Brabham-Ford - 9
2. Ferrari - 6
3. Tyrrell-Ford - 4
4. McLaren-Ford - 3
Re: The racing career of Ettore Visconti (1973-...)
1974 Grande Premio do Brasil
Pre-Race
Following his victory at Buenos Aires, Visconti grew in popularity in South America as well as in Italy. Expectations were high for him, and with a new sponsorship deal with Rolex watches Ettore arrived in his new Alfa Romeo 2000 GT, rather than his traditional Fiat 500 he was known to turn up in. There were rumour passing around that Alfa Romeo might make another return to Formula 1, providing engines purely for Ettore's use by the end of the season.
Practice and Qualifying
Ettore was a dissapointment in practice, and after several spins he finally had a large accident which damaged the car severely and ended the days work. The damage was so severe, it was not ready for the following day and Visconti had to sit out in qualifying. Clay Regazzoni claimed another pole position for Ferrari, and Niki Lauda made it a Ferrari front row washout. Emerson Fittipaldi was fast enough to qualify 3rd place, with Jody Scheckter in 4th and Denny Hulme 5th. James Hunt proved a surprise when he qualified his year old March 731G in 6th and ahead of the works March 741s. Richard Robarts boosted the spirits of Brabham when he qualified 7th, albeit 2 seconds off of the Ferrari's, and John Watson in the privateer Brabham BT42 also impressed when he qualified 8th.
1. Clay Regazzoni (Ferrari) - 2:28.497
2. Niki Lauda (Ferrari) - 2:28.523
3. Emerson Fittipaldi (McLaren-Ford) - 2:29.750
4. Jody Scheckter (Tyrrell-Ford) - 2:29.848
5. Denny Hulme (McLaren-Ford) - 2:30.109
6. James Hunt (NW March-Ford) - 2:30.184
7. Richard Robarts (Brabham-Ford) - 2:30.685
8. John Watson (NW Brabham-Ford) - 2:30.953
20. Arturo Merzario (Iso Marlboro-Ford) - 2:38.500
21. Howden Ganley (March-Ford) - 2:38.857
22. Jochen Mass (Surtees-Ford) - 2:49.241
23. Ettore Visconti (Brabham-Ford) - No time set
Race
A good start by Visconti saw him reach the dizzying heights of 16th place in front of Francois Migault. However, heading into the inner loop of the circuit Migault punted Ettore in the rear, damaging his rear suspension, and sending the Brabham head on into the inside wall. The collision saw him suffer critical suspension damage, and although he attempted to keep going eventually spun it when the car crab onto the grass midway through the braking zone.
Lauda took the lead away from the start and duly held it in front of his team mate. Jody Scheckter inherited 3rd when Emerson Fittipaldi ran wide and Denny Hulme followed him through. The order stood relatively the same up until Scheckter had a brake failure heading into the first corner leading to a scary spin in the banked turn. Jochen Mass also suffered a brake failure, but into a less fearsome slow left hander instead. The impressive story of the race was Howden Ganley who was making his way up through the field and was in the top 10 by the end of the 5th lap. Niki Lauda hadd taken a huge lead of over 10 seconds to his team mate, Regazzoni, and a further 20 back to Denny Hulme and Emerson Fittipaldi. Howden Ganley, followed by an equally impressive Arturo Merzario, were up to 5th and 8th respectively when Niki Lauda crashed out of the race with 3 laps remaining, handing the lead back to Clay. And so it seemed that the results would stand as it was, until an engine failure for the Ferrari of Regazzibu ended his race on the final lap and Emerson Fittipaldi would also join him on the large list of retirements, also with an engine failure. This bumped Denny Hulme into 1st and Howden Ganley, who had caught and passed Mike Hailwood, into 2nd. Which was exactly how the race would end, and McLaren scored their first victory of the season.
1974 Grande Premio do Brasil Race Results
1. Denny Hulme (McLaren-Ford) - 26:57.141
2. Howden Ganley (March-Ford) - +0:48.825
3. Mike Hailwood (McLaren-Ford) - +1:08.093
4. Clay Regazzoni (Ferrari) - +1lap
5. Emerson Fittipaldi (McLaren-Ford) - +1lap
6. Arturo Merzario (Iso Marlboro-Ford) - +1lap
7. Henri Pescarolo (BRM) - +1lap
8. Guy Edwards (Lola-Ford) - +1lap
9. Richard Robarts (Brabham-Ford) - +1lap
10. Graham Hill (Lola-Ford) - +1lap
13. Patrick Depailler (Tyrrell-Ford) - +2laps
14. Niki Lauda (Ferrari) - +3laps Accident
16. John Watson (NW Brabham-Ford) - +4laps Gearbox
21. Jody Scheckter (Tyrrell-Ford) - +6laps Brakes
23. Ettore Visconti (Brabham-Ford) - +9laps Spun Off
1974 World Championship of F1 Drivers
1. Denny Hulme - 12
2. Clay Regazzoni - 9
3. Ettore Visconti - 9
4. Howden Ganley - 6
5. Emerson Fittipaldi - 4
6. Mike Hailwood - 4
7. Jody Scheckter - 4
8. Niki Lauda - 1
9. Arturo Merzario - 1
1974 International Cup for F1 Constructors
1. McLaren-Ford - 12
2. Ferrari - 9
3. Brabham-Ford - 9
4. March-Ford - 6
5. Tyrrell-Ford - 4
6. Williams-Ford - 1
Pre-Race
Following his victory at Buenos Aires, Visconti grew in popularity in South America as well as in Italy. Expectations were high for him, and with a new sponsorship deal with Rolex watches Ettore arrived in his new Alfa Romeo 2000 GT, rather than his traditional Fiat 500 he was known to turn up in. There were rumour passing around that Alfa Romeo might make another return to Formula 1, providing engines purely for Ettore's use by the end of the season.
Practice and Qualifying
Ettore was a dissapointment in practice, and after several spins he finally had a large accident which damaged the car severely and ended the days work. The damage was so severe, it was not ready for the following day and Visconti had to sit out in qualifying. Clay Regazzoni claimed another pole position for Ferrari, and Niki Lauda made it a Ferrari front row washout. Emerson Fittipaldi was fast enough to qualify 3rd place, with Jody Scheckter in 4th and Denny Hulme 5th. James Hunt proved a surprise when he qualified his year old March 731G in 6th and ahead of the works March 741s. Richard Robarts boosted the spirits of Brabham when he qualified 7th, albeit 2 seconds off of the Ferrari's, and John Watson in the privateer Brabham BT42 also impressed when he qualified 8th.
1. Clay Regazzoni (Ferrari) - 2:28.497
2. Niki Lauda (Ferrari) - 2:28.523
3. Emerson Fittipaldi (McLaren-Ford) - 2:29.750
4. Jody Scheckter (Tyrrell-Ford) - 2:29.848
5. Denny Hulme (McLaren-Ford) - 2:30.109
6. James Hunt (NW March-Ford) - 2:30.184
7. Richard Robarts (Brabham-Ford) - 2:30.685
8. John Watson (NW Brabham-Ford) - 2:30.953
20. Arturo Merzario (Iso Marlboro-Ford) - 2:38.500
21. Howden Ganley (March-Ford) - 2:38.857
22. Jochen Mass (Surtees-Ford) - 2:49.241
23. Ettore Visconti (Brabham-Ford) - No time set
Race
A good start by Visconti saw him reach the dizzying heights of 16th place in front of Francois Migault. However, heading into the inner loop of the circuit Migault punted Ettore in the rear, damaging his rear suspension, and sending the Brabham head on into the inside wall. The collision saw him suffer critical suspension damage, and although he attempted to keep going eventually spun it when the car crab onto the grass midway through the braking zone.
Lauda took the lead away from the start and duly held it in front of his team mate. Jody Scheckter inherited 3rd when Emerson Fittipaldi ran wide and Denny Hulme followed him through. The order stood relatively the same up until Scheckter had a brake failure heading into the first corner leading to a scary spin in the banked turn. Jochen Mass also suffered a brake failure, but into a less fearsome slow left hander instead. The impressive story of the race was Howden Ganley who was making his way up through the field and was in the top 10 by the end of the 5th lap. Niki Lauda hadd taken a huge lead of over 10 seconds to his team mate, Regazzoni, and a further 20 back to Denny Hulme and Emerson Fittipaldi. Howden Ganley, followed by an equally impressive Arturo Merzario, were up to 5th and 8th respectively when Niki Lauda crashed out of the race with 3 laps remaining, handing the lead back to Clay. And so it seemed that the results would stand as it was, until an engine failure for the Ferrari of Regazzibu ended his race on the final lap and Emerson Fittipaldi would also join him on the large list of retirements, also with an engine failure. This bumped Denny Hulme into 1st and Howden Ganley, who had caught and passed Mike Hailwood, into 2nd. Which was exactly how the race would end, and McLaren scored their first victory of the season.
1974 Grande Premio do Brasil Race Results
1. Denny Hulme (McLaren-Ford) - 26:57.141
2. Howden Ganley (March-Ford) - +0:48.825
3. Mike Hailwood (McLaren-Ford) - +1:08.093
4. Clay Regazzoni (Ferrari) - +1lap
5. Emerson Fittipaldi (McLaren-Ford) - +1lap
6. Arturo Merzario (Iso Marlboro-Ford) - +1lap
7. Henri Pescarolo (BRM) - +1lap
8. Guy Edwards (Lola-Ford) - +1lap
9. Richard Robarts (Brabham-Ford) - +1lap
10. Graham Hill (Lola-Ford) - +1lap
13. Patrick Depailler (Tyrrell-Ford) - +2laps
14. Niki Lauda (Ferrari) - +3laps Accident
16. John Watson (NW Brabham-Ford) - +4laps Gearbox
21. Jody Scheckter (Tyrrell-Ford) - +6laps Brakes
23. Ettore Visconti (Brabham-Ford) - +9laps Spun Off
1974 World Championship of F1 Drivers
1. Denny Hulme - 12
2. Clay Regazzoni - 9
3. Ettore Visconti - 9
4. Howden Ganley - 6
5. Emerson Fittipaldi - 4
6. Mike Hailwood - 4
7. Jody Scheckter - 4
8. Niki Lauda - 1
9. Arturo Merzario - 1
1974 International Cup for F1 Constructors
1. McLaren-Ford - 12
2. Ferrari - 9
3. Brabham-Ford - 9
4. March-Ford - 6
5. Tyrrell-Ford - 4
6. Williams-Ford - 1
Re: The racing career of Ettore Visconti (1973-...)
Peter Revson killed in pre-race test session
Ettore Visconti to Autosport April 28 1974 wrote:"I have become tired of it, basically. 3 in under a year, that's a huge number. I know little of [Peter] Revson, I saw him not often. I did know that they loved him at Shadow, and I do know that Peter is one of the greatest drivers I have had the chance to drive against and it's stupid that he will never return to the track again. Jackie [Stewart] knows what he's doing, and I hope he can make something happen because it's too difficult to face this."
Tony Southgate, designer of the DN3, to Motorsport Magazine June 2012 wrote:Revvie was a fabulous easy-going guy, fitted in well, and a very good driver. But tragically he wasn't with us for long. He qualified on row 2 for Argentina and row 3 for Brazil. Then he and I, our chief mechanic Pete Kerr and two other mechanics went down to Kyalami for testing before the South African GP. Revvie was going very well, very happy with the car, and then he didn't come around. We rushed out to the back of the circuit and found the car buried under the Armco on the outside of a quick corner. Peter was already in the ambulance and gone. I phoned the hospital, and they told me I had to go to the morgue and identify him. When the news got out all hell let loose, journalists banging on my hotel door, then the Revson family lawyer arrived and took over."
"We were using titanium quite a lot on the DN3, which was quite a new material then. Titanium is finicky, it has to be machined smooth and the surface polished, and a ball joint which had some coarse machining on it had failed. There was only one layer of Armco and the car, instead of being deflected or stopped, had gone right under as far as the cockpit. I felt personally responsible. It was a very difficult time. The glamour of Formula 1 had gone, replaced by a sort of loneliness. You just had to work on. Of course I replaced all the titanium components with steel before the next race"
Peter Revson's 1973 Canadian Grand Prix victory - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQj_RwiOdxE
1974 Gran Prix of South Africa
Pre-Race
Following a 2 month break, Visconti emerged at the South African Grand Prix feeling rather sorry for himself after being ridiculed by European and South American press following his red faced moment in Brazil. Spinning out was embarassing enough, but out of last place...was a bit too much.
Lotus arrived at Kyalami equally embarassed having scored 0 points from the first 2 rounds, and in hope of an improved form they brought their new and impressive 4 pedal, electric clutch Lotus 76 for Ronnie Peterson, Jacky Ickx and Carlos Reutemann. Opposition to the system had developed but ultimately it was allowed to be run. Ickx would be making his first start of the season, planning to run the rest of the season.
Meanwhile, the men at Shadow who were hoping to score their first points of the season packed up and went home following the tragic fatal accident of lead driver, Peter Revson, after suffering a suspension failure which pitched him heavily into the poorly secured armco.
Practice
The sour mood following Revson's pre-race test accident had to be ignored as the Grand Prix weekend began on the Friday for the practice session. It would be a difficult session for Lotus who were struggling with their new electric clutch and were unable to set a competitive time. Alternatively, rivals Ferrari and Brabham were on the pace with Ettore Visconti the first driver to break Ferrari's dominance over 1 lap, setting a time of 1:12.269, 0.461 faster than Niki Lauda. Regazzoni in the other Ferrari was 3rd and Richard Robarts in the second Brabham 4th. Dissapointment for McLaren with Emmo Fittipaldi only 6th, and Denny Hulme 9th after completing only a couple fast lap times before a problem sidelined him from the session.
1. Ettore Visconti (Brabham-Ford) - 1:12.269
2. Niki Lauda (Ferrari) - +0.461
3. Clay Regazzoni (Ferrari) - +0.544
4. Richard Robarts (Brabham-Ford) - +0.748
5. Hans Stuck (March-Ford) - +1.131
6. Emmerson Fittipaldi (McLaren-Ford) - +1.328
7. Jody Scheckter (Tyrrell-Ford) - +1.339
8. Jean-Pierre Beltoise (BRM) - +1.861
9. Denny Hulme (McLaren-Ford) - +1.902
10. John Watson (NW Brabham-Ford) - +1.928
Qualifying
**Times lost**
A heavy crash ended Ettore Visconti's session early on, stopping what looked to be a dominative qualifying performance. He would start 26th, behind the 3 Lotus's. John Watson set a mega fast lap, making a surprise appearance in 3rd place. Equally so did Carlos Pace, who was supposedly considering talks with some top end teams following an impressive debut season for Surtees in 1973 where he scored 7 points. Niki Lauda once more set the fastest time, but Regazzoni was nowhere to be seen having crashed out of qualfiying. He would start 21st.
1. Niki Lauda (Ferrari)
2. Carlos Pace (Surtees-Ford)
3. John Watson (NW Brabham-Ford)
4. Hans Stuck (March-Ford)
5. Francois Migault (BRM)
6. Emerson Fittipaldi (McLaren-Ford)
7. Denny Hulme (McLaren-Ford)
8. Tom Belso (Iso-Marlboro-Ford)
9. Jody Scheckter (Tyrrell-Ford)
10. Jean-Pierre Beltoise (BRM)
15. Richard Robarts (Brabham-Ford)
25. Ettore Visconti (Brabham-Ford)
Race
A strong start by Visconti moved him up 5 places, with the help of 2 of the 3 Lotus's retiring into the first corner following a suspension failure on the car of Ickx causing a collision with Peterson. The other Lotus of Reutemann would be out with a gearbox failure the following lap. Fittipaldi would also join the already growing rank of retirements following a spin in The Esses, and his team mates would also soon be out of the race following Mike Hailwoods running into the back of Jean-Pierre Beltoise's BRM and Denny Hulme spinning out on his own. There were several more spins, and Visconti had managed to find himself in the top 10 by the end of only lap 3 and by lap 4 was into 4th. Niki Lauda then spun from the lead and collided with 2nd placed man Jody Scheckter and both subsequently had to pit for new front wings handing the lead to John Watson in 3rd. The lead would last purely for a couple corners as Visconti stormed up the inside of Watson into Crowthorne. With the cars behind him spinning (unfortunately Kyalami in rFactor doesn't suit torquey, low ride height cars and usually spins them around), Visconti would lead start to finish. While driving from last to 1st in 5 laps was impressive, it was the rest of the top 6 which really dropped the jaws of the onlookers. Merzario and Migault completed the podium, while John Watson in the year old non-works Brabham BT42 was in 4th, Dave Charlton in a non-works McLaren M23 was 5th and Jochen Mass in the Surtees 6th. Niki Lauda managed a 7th place, however was unclassified after finishing 3 laps behind the leader.
1. Ettore Visconti (Brabham-Ford) - 20 Laps
2. Arturo Merzario (Iso-Marlboro-Ford) - +1 lap
3. Francois Migault (BRM) - +1 lap
4. John Watson (NW Brabham-Ford) - Engine
5. Dave Charlton (NW McLaren-Ford) - +2 laps
6. Jochen Mass (Surtees-Ford) - +2 laps
7. Niki Lauda (Ferrari) - NC +3 laps
8. Carlos Pace (Surtees-Ford) - NC +3 laps
9. Henri Pescarolo (BRM) - Engine
10. Vittorio Brambilla (March-Ford) - NC +5 laps
12. Richard Robarts (Brabham-Ford) - NC +6 laps
1974 World Championship of F1 Drivers
1. Ettore Visconti (Brabham-Ford) - 18
2. Denny Hulme (McLaren-Ford) - 12
3. Clay Regazzoni (Ferrari) - 9
4. Arturo Merzario (Iso-Marlboro-Ford) - 7
5. Howden Ganley (March-Ford) - 6
6. Jody Scheckter (Tyrrell-Ford) - 4
=. Emerson Fittipaldi (McLaren-Ford) - 4
=. Mike Hailwood (McLaren-Ford) - 4
=. Francois Migault (BRM) - 4
10. John Watson (NW Brabham-Ford) - 3
11. Dave Charlton (NW McLaren-Ford) - 2
12. Niki Lauda (Ferrari) - 1
13. Jochen Mass (McLaren-Ford) - 1
1974 International Cup for F1 Constructors
1. Brabham-Ford - 18
2. McLaren-Ford - 14
3. Ferrari - 9
4. Iso-Marlboro-Ford - 7
5. March-Ford - 6
6. Tyrrell-Ford - 4
=. BRM - 4
8. Surtees-Ford - 1
Re: The racing career of Ettore Visconti (1973-...)
1974 Gran Premio de Espana
Pre-Race
Visconti's dominating win at Kyalami in which he lapped the entire field set Ettore out as a certain competitor for the drivers championship. Meanwhile, Richard Robarts who had bought 3 race drives in the second Brabham had lacked any real pace and after the South African Grand Prix, Ecclestone was fed up with Robarts dismal race performances opening the door to Liechtensteiner Rikky von Opel who brought more experience but, most importantly, wads of cash several times larger than anything Robarts had ever promised to deliver to Brabham.
Following Revson's fatal accident in Kyalami, British driver Brian Redman was re-hired to take the #16 UOP Shadow alongside highly rated Jean-Pierre Jarier in the other Shadow. Meanwhile, Tim Schenken would be debuting the Trojan T103 designed by ex-Brabham founder, Ron Tauranac, and Chris Amon Racing would also make their first start with the Gordon Fowell developed AF101. In reality, never team were expected to succeed however hopes were high to at least make a decent impression in their first start.
Practice
27 of the 29 cars took to the tight and twisty Jarama circuit located just outside of Madrid for the 5th time in the circuits history. And it began with an incredibly interesting start, with the British playboys of Hesketh and Hunt setting the fastest time on the back of their first win at the International Trophy at Silverstone. It was the first time a Ferrari had failed to set the fastest lap time in the session. However, Ferrari did succeed in placing 2nd and 3rd, with Regazzoni in 2nd very nearly placing first-only a gap of 0.010 separated Hunt and Clay. Brabham were, much like they were in Brazil, off form again following their success in South Africa with Rikki von Opel unable to make it onto the track during the session and Visconti only placing in 22nd with a time more than 5 seconds slower than the front 2 cars. Other title hopeful, Denny Hulme, also failed to record a lap after a problem before practice started left his McLaren on the sidelines for the entirety of the session, while Jody Scheckter was able to place his car 4th yet over 0.7 of a second off the fastest lap time. Lotus again failed to impress, with all 3 cars failing to set a lap following problems on their outlaps (2 of which were gearbox problems related to the electric clutch).
1. James Hunt (NW March-Ford) - 1:18.276
2. Clay Regazzoni (Ferrari) - +0.010
3. Niki Lauda (Ferrari) - +0.546
4. Jody Scheckter (Tyrrell-Ford) - +0.719
5. Emerson Fittipaldi (McLaren-Ford) - +1.000
6. Jean Pierre Jarier (Shadow-Ford) - +1.855
7. Hans Stuck (March-Ford) - +1.870
8. Brian Redman (Shadow-Ford) - +2.248
9. Mike Hailwood (McLaren-Ford) - +2.334
10. Patrick Depailler (Tyrrell-Ford) - +2.626
11. John Watson (NW Brabhma-Ford) - +2.756
21. Tim Schenken (Trojan-Ford) - +4.908
22. Ettore Visconti (Brabham-Ford) - +5.042
23. Arturo Merzario (Iso-Marlboro-Ford) - +5.087
25. Rikki von Opel (Brabham-Ford) - No time set
Qualifying
Following their dramas with the Lotus 76 which led to them failing to finish a race so far in 1974, the JPS Lotus team decided not to continue in the Spanish Grand Prix and would return at the Monaco Grand Prix with the old and outdated Lotus 72. James Hunt was again on fire, however his time of 1:16.856 was not fast enough to beat Niki Lauda's more supreme Ferrari, who set an unbeatable time 4 tenths faster than Hunt in his outdated March. Regazzoni would once again record a great starting position, starting in the top 3 for the 3rd time this season. Championship leader, Ettore Visconti, was again nowhere in sight while Rikki von Opel was completely off place, finally placing in 21st while John Watson continued to make a name for himself in the non-works Hexagon BT42, placing in a strong 13th place. He had improved slightly from practice, but was still unable to close the gap down to Lauda. Championship contenders, Hulme and Scheckter, were also able to set strong times and would lead up together on the 3rd row, while Regazzoni on row 2 would be joined by last years runner-up, Emerson Fittipaldi, who looked more than happy to no longer be driving for the struggling Lotus team. Newcomers, Amon were able to place a commendable 16th ahead of both works Brabhams, and the Trojan of Tim Schenken was able to place ahead of the BRM's of Beltoise and Migault-not an unimpressive first attempt. Guy Edwards in the Lola would round out the field over 9.5 seconds away from Lauda's time. In truth, 9.5 seconds wasn't too suprising when you consider only 5 cars set times within 2 seconds of Lauda, and only 16 cars would have met the 107% rule had it been enforced during this period.
1. Niki Lauda (Ferrari) - 1:16.459
2. James Hunt (NW March-Ford) - +0.396
3. Clay Regazzoni (Ferrari) - +0.600
4. Emerson Fittipaldi (McLaren-Ford) - +0.972
5. Jody Scheckter (Tyrrell-Ford) - +1.744
6. Denny Hulme (McLaren-Ford) - +2.438
7. Vittorio Brambilla (March-Ford) - +3.907
8. Jean Pierre Jarier (Shadow-Ford) - +3.911
9. Mike Hailwood (McLaren-Ford) - +4.083
10. Hans Stuck (March-Ford) - +4.122
13. John Watson (NW Brabham-Ford) - +4.611
15. Carlos Pace (Surtees-Ford) - +5.009
16. Chris Amon (Amon-Ford) - +5.155
17. Ettore Visconti (Brabham-Ford) - +5.631
18. Jochen Mass (Surtees-Ford) - +5.764
19. Graham Hill (Lola-Ford) - +5.979
21. Rikki von Opel (Brabham-Ford) - +6.419
Race
The front 6 stayed the same for the most part away from the start, however further back a strong start from Ettore Visconti put home on the end of the top 10 which would, unfortunately, go to waste after a failed past up the inside of McLaren's Mike Hailwood left him facing the wrong way and back down in 26th. Again moving up the field, he was able to get up to 22nd by the end of the lap and was in the best position to watch as his team mate, Rikki von Opel, sped off the track following a suspension failure. One lap later, a series of accidents helped him move further up the order-Clay Regazzoni, Jean Pierre Jarier and Jody Scheckter had a collision putting the cars placed 3rd to 5th out of the race, while Francois Migault, Guy Edwards and John Watson had seperate individual incidents. Thus, after 2 laps Visconti had made it from 16th to 10th, spun and dropped down to 26th and had then began moving up again and back into 16th. Steady laps, and with a lot of cars spinning, Visconti was just outside the points. Denny Hulme and Brambilla both had mechanical failures, pushing Visconti into 5th. Lauda was still setting blistering pace out front, and by lap 15 had already fully lapped the entire field. James Hunt, then in 4th, had an engine failure only 4 laps from the finish and promoted Visconti into 4th, and Pescarolo and Hailwood into 5th and 6th respectively. The order would finish as it were, and a total of 10 cars were able to finish the race classified.
1. Niki Lauda (Ferrari) - 19 laps
2. Emerson Fittipaldi (McLaren-Ford) - +1 lap
3. Patrick Depailler (Tyrrell-Ford) - +1 lap
4. Ettore Visconti (Brabham-Ford) - +1 lap
5. Henri Pescarolo (BRM) - +1 lap
6. Mike Hailwood (McLaren-Ford) - +1 lap
7. Graham Hill (Lola-Ford) - +2 laps
8. Tim Schenken (Trojan-Ford) - +2 laps
9. Jochen Mass (Surtees-Ford) - +2 laps
10. Carlos Pace (Surtees-Ford) - +2 laps
World Championship for F1 Drivers
1. Ettore Visconti (Brabham-Ford) - 21
2. Denny Hulme (McLaren-Ford) - 12
3. Emerson Fittipaldi (McLaren-Ford) - 10
=. Niki Lauda (Ferrari) - 10
5. Clay Regazzoni (Ferrari) - 9
6. Arturo Merzario (Williams-Ford) - 7
7. Howden Ganley (March-Ford) - 6
8. Mike Hailwood (McLaren-Ford) - 5
9. Jody Scheckter (Tyrrell-Ford) - 4
=. Francois Migault (BRM) - 4
=. Patrick Depailler (Tyrrell-Ford) - 4
12. John Watson (NW Brabham-Ford) - 3
13. Dave Charlton (NW McLaren-Ford) - 2
-=. Henri Pescarolo (BRM) - 2
15. Jochen Mass (Surtees-Ford) - 1
1974 International Cup for F1 Constructors
1. Brabham-Ford - 21
2. McLaren-Ford - 20
3. Ferrari - 18
4. Tyrrell-Ford - 8
5. Iso-Marlboro-Ford - 7
6. March-Ford - 6
=. BRM - 6
8. Surtees-Ford - 1
Pre-Race
Visconti's dominating win at Kyalami in which he lapped the entire field set Ettore out as a certain competitor for the drivers championship. Meanwhile, Richard Robarts who had bought 3 race drives in the second Brabham had lacked any real pace and after the South African Grand Prix, Ecclestone was fed up with Robarts dismal race performances opening the door to Liechtensteiner Rikky von Opel who brought more experience but, most importantly, wads of cash several times larger than anything Robarts had ever promised to deliver to Brabham.
Following Revson's fatal accident in Kyalami, British driver Brian Redman was re-hired to take the #16 UOP Shadow alongside highly rated Jean-Pierre Jarier in the other Shadow. Meanwhile, Tim Schenken would be debuting the Trojan T103 designed by ex-Brabham founder, Ron Tauranac, and Chris Amon Racing would also make their first start with the Gordon Fowell developed AF101. In reality, never team were expected to succeed however hopes were high to at least make a decent impression in their first start.
Practice
27 of the 29 cars took to the tight and twisty Jarama circuit located just outside of Madrid for the 5th time in the circuits history. And it began with an incredibly interesting start, with the British playboys of Hesketh and Hunt setting the fastest time on the back of their first win at the International Trophy at Silverstone. It was the first time a Ferrari had failed to set the fastest lap time in the session. However, Ferrari did succeed in placing 2nd and 3rd, with Regazzoni in 2nd very nearly placing first-only a gap of 0.010 separated Hunt and Clay. Brabham were, much like they were in Brazil, off form again following their success in South Africa with Rikki von Opel unable to make it onto the track during the session and Visconti only placing in 22nd with a time more than 5 seconds slower than the front 2 cars. Other title hopeful, Denny Hulme, also failed to record a lap after a problem before practice started left his McLaren on the sidelines for the entirety of the session, while Jody Scheckter was able to place his car 4th yet over 0.7 of a second off the fastest lap time. Lotus again failed to impress, with all 3 cars failing to set a lap following problems on their outlaps (2 of which were gearbox problems related to the electric clutch).
1. James Hunt (NW March-Ford) - 1:18.276
2. Clay Regazzoni (Ferrari) - +0.010
3. Niki Lauda (Ferrari) - +0.546
4. Jody Scheckter (Tyrrell-Ford) - +0.719
5. Emerson Fittipaldi (McLaren-Ford) - +1.000
6. Jean Pierre Jarier (Shadow-Ford) - +1.855
7. Hans Stuck (March-Ford) - +1.870
8. Brian Redman (Shadow-Ford) - +2.248
9. Mike Hailwood (McLaren-Ford) - +2.334
10. Patrick Depailler (Tyrrell-Ford) - +2.626
11. John Watson (NW Brabhma-Ford) - +2.756
21. Tim Schenken (Trojan-Ford) - +4.908
22. Ettore Visconti (Brabham-Ford) - +5.042
23. Arturo Merzario (Iso-Marlboro-Ford) - +5.087
25. Rikki von Opel (Brabham-Ford) - No time set
Qualifying
Following their dramas with the Lotus 76 which led to them failing to finish a race so far in 1974, the JPS Lotus team decided not to continue in the Spanish Grand Prix and would return at the Monaco Grand Prix with the old and outdated Lotus 72. James Hunt was again on fire, however his time of 1:16.856 was not fast enough to beat Niki Lauda's more supreme Ferrari, who set an unbeatable time 4 tenths faster than Hunt in his outdated March. Regazzoni would once again record a great starting position, starting in the top 3 for the 3rd time this season. Championship leader, Ettore Visconti, was again nowhere in sight while Rikki von Opel was completely off place, finally placing in 21st while John Watson continued to make a name for himself in the non-works Hexagon BT42, placing in a strong 13th place. He had improved slightly from practice, but was still unable to close the gap down to Lauda. Championship contenders, Hulme and Scheckter, were also able to set strong times and would lead up together on the 3rd row, while Regazzoni on row 2 would be joined by last years runner-up, Emerson Fittipaldi, who looked more than happy to no longer be driving for the struggling Lotus team. Newcomers, Amon were able to place a commendable 16th ahead of both works Brabhams, and the Trojan of Tim Schenken was able to place ahead of the BRM's of Beltoise and Migault-not an unimpressive first attempt. Guy Edwards in the Lola would round out the field over 9.5 seconds away from Lauda's time. In truth, 9.5 seconds wasn't too suprising when you consider only 5 cars set times within 2 seconds of Lauda, and only 16 cars would have met the 107% rule had it been enforced during this period.
1. Niki Lauda (Ferrari) - 1:16.459
2. James Hunt (NW March-Ford) - +0.396
3. Clay Regazzoni (Ferrari) - +0.600
4. Emerson Fittipaldi (McLaren-Ford) - +0.972
5. Jody Scheckter (Tyrrell-Ford) - +1.744
6. Denny Hulme (McLaren-Ford) - +2.438
7. Vittorio Brambilla (March-Ford) - +3.907
8. Jean Pierre Jarier (Shadow-Ford) - +3.911
9. Mike Hailwood (McLaren-Ford) - +4.083
10. Hans Stuck (March-Ford) - +4.122
13. John Watson (NW Brabham-Ford) - +4.611
15. Carlos Pace (Surtees-Ford) - +5.009
16. Chris Amon (Amon-Ford) - +5.155
17. Ettore Visconti (Brabham-Ford) - +5.631
18. Jochen Mass (Surtees-Ford) - +5.764
19. Graham Hill (Lola-Ford) - +5.979
21. Rikki von Opel (Brabham-Ford) - +6.419
Race
The front 6 stayed the same for the most part away from the start, however further back a strong start from Ettore Visconti put home on the end of the top 10 which would, unfortunately, go to waste after a failed past up the inside of McLaren's Mike Hailwood left him facing the wrong way and back down in 26th. Again moving up the field, he was able to get up to 22nd by the end of the lap and was in the best position to watch as his team mate, Rikki von Opel, sped off the track following a suspension failure. One lap later, a series of accidents helped him move further up the order-Clay Regazzoni, Jean Pierre Jarier and Jody Scheckter had a collision putting the cars placed 3rd to 5th out of the race, while Francois Migault, Guy Edwards and John Watson had seperate individual incidents. Thus, after 2 laps Visconti had made it from 16th to 10th, spun and dropped down to 26th and had then began moving up again and back into 16th. Steady laps, and with a lot of cars spinning, Visconti was just outside the points. Denny Hulme and Brambilla both had mechanical failures, pushing Visconti into 5th. Lauda was still setting blistering pace out front, and by lap 15 had already fully lapped the entire field. James Hunt, then in 4th, had an engine failure only 4 laps from the finish and promoted Visconti into 4th, and Pescarolo and Hailwood into 5th and 6th respectively. The order would finish as it were, and a total of 10 cars were able to finish the race classified.
1. Niki Lauda (Ferrari) - 19 laps
2. Emerson Fittipaldi (McLaren-Ford) - +1 lap
3. Patrick Depailler (Tyrrell-Ford) - +1 lap
4. Ettore Visconti (Brabham-Ford) - +1 lap
5. Henri Pescarolo (BRM) - +1 lap
6. Mike Hailwood (McLaren-Ford) - +1 lap
7. Graham Hill (Lola-Ford) - +2 laps
8. Tim Schenken (Trojan-Ford) - +2 laps
9. Jochen Mass (Surtees-Ford) - +2 laps
10. Carlos Pace (Surtees-Ford) - +2 laps
World Championship for F1 Drivers
1. Ettore Visconti (Brabham-Ford) - 21
2. Denny Hulme (McLaren-Ford) - 12
3. Emerson Fittipaldi (McLaren-Ford) - 10
=. Niki Lauda (Ferrari) - 10
5. Clay Regazzoni (Ferrari) - 9
6. Arturo Merzario (Williams-Ford) - 7
7. Howden Ganley (March-Ford) - 6
8. Mike Hailwood (McLaren-Ford) - 5
9. Jody Scheckter (Tyrrell-Ford) - 4
=. Francois Migault (BRM) - 4
=. Patrick Depailler (Tyrrell-Ford) - 4
12. John Watson (NW Brabham-Ford) - 3
13. Dave Charlton (NW McLaren-Ford) - 2
-=. Henri Pescarolo (BRM) - 2
15. Jochen Mass (Surtees-Ford) - 1
1974 International Cup for F1 Constructors
1. Brabham-Ford - 21
2. McLaren-Ford - 20
3. Ferrari - 18
4. Tyrrell-Ford - 8
5. Iso-Marlboro-Ford - 7
6. March-Ford - 6
=. BRM - 6
8. Surtees-Ford - 1
-
RonDenisDeletraz
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Re: The racing career of Ettore Visconti (1973-...)
I had legitimately not heard of Richard Robarts before
aerond wrote:Yes RDD, but we always knew you never had any sort of taste either
tommykl wrote:I have a shite car and meme sponsors, but Corrado Fabi will carry me to the promised land with the power of Lionel Richie.
Re: The racing career of Ettore Visconti (1973-...)
eurobrun wrote:I had legitimately not heard of Richard Robarts before
Not surprising really, he was pretty awful and only ever arrived in F1 because of his money.
Only other notable appearances were 3 Formula 2 entries.1974 Grand Prix de Belgique
Pre-Race
Visconti had begun making a name from him self globally, and had picked up a significant amount of backing from Italian and South American companies. Alfa Romeo, Fendi and MOMO all joined to support Ettore. The hype surrounding him began to make him believe he was an invincible, and arrived at Nivelles in his newly gifted Alfa Romeo Montreal alongside his outstanding wife, Vicky, wearing a pair of free Fendi's and holding his special MOMO helmet decorated in Italian national colours. He had the confidence of a champion, and most of all the arrogance of a champion.
Meanwhile Brabham would be represented in great numbers, with the privateer BT42's of Scuderia Finotto (driven by Gerard Larrousse) and the Goldie Hexagon Racing (driven by John Watson), and a 3rd Brabham entered with Hitachi funding for Teddy Pilette. A huge 32 cars would descend to the Brussel's circuit, an astounding grid. Another new entry to the field was the unproven and ambiguous Tom Pryce, a name which surprised many F1 fans-no one knew who he was. Apparently, he had won a couple events in Formula Atlantic the year prior, and was the winner of the 1971 F3 RoC support race. Not a whole deal was expected from him...
Qualifying
*No times as session was quick simmed*
Ettore's weekend was quickly grounded to a halt with a scary wreck on his third timed practice lap, complaining that something felt strange in the rear. The car was badly damaged, and would require the best part of 2 days to repair the car meaning it would fail to set a time in qualifying. Despite the ferocity of the accident, Visconti was unharmed, even healthy enough to call a journalist from The Sun, in lighter words, a "moron" after the journalist spilt coffee on his new Superga's.
It was once again full domination for the Ferrari's as Niki Lauda could not be matched and set the fastest lap of the session, however while Lauda had already started on the front row 4 times, he had only managed 10 points across these races. Regazzoni meanwhile would qualify 2nd ahead of other championship hopefuls, Jody Scheckter and Emerson Fittipaldi. James Hunt had also set a strong lap, to place 5th with the year old Tyrrell 005 of Patrick Depailler behind him in 6th. All 3 Lotus' did not manage a timed lap, rather embarrassingly and meant Reutemann and Ickx would not start the race for failing to set any times across the weekend due to clutch issues on the Lotus 76.
1. Niki Lauda (Ferrari)
2. Clay Regazzoni (Ferrari)
3. Jody Scheckter (Tyrrell-Ford)
4. Emerson Fittipaldi (McLaren-Ford)
5. James Hunt (Hesketh-Ford)
6. Patrick Depailler (Tyrrell-Ford)
7. Denny Hulme (McLaren-Ford)
8. Mike Hailwood (McLaren-Ford)
9. Henri Pescarolo (BRM)
10. John Watson (NW Brabham-Ford)
19. Teddy Pilette (Brabham-Ford)
22. Rikki von Opel (Brabham-Ford)
23. Tom Pryce (Token-Ford)
29. Jochen Mass (Surtees-Ford)
30. Ettore Visconti (Brabham-Ford)
31. Ronnie Peterson (Lotus-Ford)
DNQ. Jacky Ickx (Lotus-Ford)
DNQ. Carlos Reutemann (Lotus-Ford)
Race
Visconti's quick reactions at the start played well into the Italian's hands, as he jumped from 30th up to 21st, behind his Brabham team mate Teddy Pilette. Lauda and Regazzoni lead away from Jody Scheckter and Emerson Fittipaldi, while Jean-Pierre Jarier had made it all the way up into 5th from his 15th place starting position, while Teddy Pilette sat 6th from an equally brilliant start from 19th. Even more impressive, after only 5 laps Vittorio Brambilla had worked his way up into 8th place from 18th on the grid, followed by Francois Migault and Vern Schuppan who had started 25th and 20th respectively. Visconti had also worked his way up into 9th and, along with Carlos Pace, eased past the 3 man group of Migault, Schuppan and Brambilla. Pace passed Visconti and was soon up into 5th past Teddy Pilette. Visconti suffered a couple of spins coming out of the dramatically uphill first corner, but eventually caught Pilette for 6th. Lauda and Regazzoni still lead from Jody Scheckter until 9 laps from the end, when the Tyrrell's gearbox seized up leaving Scheckter sidelined from a potential podium. Pilette and Depailler would also retire from strong positions a few laps after.
However, a horrific accident occurred on lap 17 . Coming over the steep crest on the front straight, Hans Stuck's March 741's brakes would fail spinning the car into the wall and leaving the car on the racing line. Unsighted, Visconti came over the crest only to find the March in the middle of the road. Visconti through the car suddenly to the right, but he couldn't avoid slamming into the side of Mass's car. The Brabham was sent rolling into the pit wall and Visconti was quickly driven away to the nearby Brussels hospital. Fortune would have it that Visconti only suffered a couple cracked ribs and a pair of (badly) broken legs, yet he would be sidelined for the next 2 months missing the Monaco Grand Prix, where he had famously scored a 3rd place on his debut, and also the Swedish Grand Prix. Jochen Mass would also have to miss the Monaco Grand Prix, but would be back in time for Sweden.
Despite the accident, the race would continue and Lauda would go on to win. Luck was not on Regazzoni's side as a brake failure meant he would not complete the final lap, dropping to 4th behind Emerson Fittipaldi and the impressive Jean-Pierre Jarier. Surprisingly, Vern Schuppan's Ensign would score 2 points, finishing 5th.
1974 Grand Prix de Belgique Race Results
1. Niki Lauda (Ferrari) - 27:56.121
2. Emerson Fittipaldi (McLaren-Ford) - +2.410
3. JP Jarier (Shadow-Ford) - +43.876
4. Clay Regazzoni (Ferrari) - Brakes
5. Vern Schuppan (Ensign-Ford) - +1 laps
6. Vittorio Brambilla (March-Ford) - +1 laps
7. Francois Migault (BRM) - +1 laps
8. Brian Redman (Shadow-Ford) - +1 laps
9. Rikki von Opel (Brabham-Ford) - +1 laps
10. Arturo Merzario (Williams-Ford) - +1 laps
11. John Watson (NW Brabham-Ford) - +1 laps
21. Ettore Visconti (Brabham-Ford) - Accident
24. Teddy Pilette (Brabham-Ford) - Suspension
26. Gerard Larrousse (NW Brabham-Ford) - Gearbox
1974 World Championship for F1 Drivers after 5 rounds
1. Ettore Visconti (Brabham-Ford) - 21
2. Niki Lauda (Ferrari) - 19
3. Emerson Fittipaldi (McLaren-Ford) - 16
4. Denny Hulme (McLaren-Ford) - 12
=. Clay Regazzoni (Ferrari) - 12
6. Arturo Merzario (Williams-Ford) - 7
7. Howden Ganley (March-Ford) - 6
8. Mike Hailwood (McLaren-Ford) - 5
9. Jody Scheckter (Tyrrell-Ford) - 4
=. Francois Migault (BRM) - 4
=. Patrick Depailler (Tyrrell-Ford) - 4
=. Jean-Pierre Jarier (Shadow-Ford) - 4
13. John Watson (NW Brabham-Ford) - 3
14. Dave Charlton (NW McLaren-Ford) - 2
-=. Henri Pescarolo (BRM) - 2
-=. Vern Schuppan (Ensign-Ford) - 2
17. Jochen Mass (Surtees-Ford) - 1
-=. Vittorio Brambilla (March-Ford) - 1
1974 International Cup for F1 Constructors after 5 rounds
1. Ferrari - 27
2. McLaren-Ford - 26
3. Brabham-Ford - 21
4. Tyrrell-Ford - 8
5. Iso-Marlboro-Ford - 7
=. March-Ford - 7
7. BRM - 6
8. Shadow-Ford - 4
9. Ensign-Ford - 2
10. Surtees-Ford - 1
1974 Grand Prix de Monaco
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1974_Monaco_Grand_Prix
1974 Sveriges Grand Prix
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1974_Swedish_Grand_Prix
1974 World Championship for Drivers after 7 rounds
1. Ettore Visconti (Brabham-Ford) - 21
-=. Emerson Fittipaldi (McLaren-Ford) - 21
3. Niki Lauda (Ferrari) - 19 (2x1st)
-= Jody Scheckter (Tyrrell-Ford) - 19
5. Clay Regazzoni (Ferrari) - 15
6. Denny Hulme (McLaren-Ford) - 12
7. Patrick Depailler (Tyrrell-Ford) - 10
-=. Jean-Pierre Jarier (Shadow-Ford) - 10
9. Ronnie Peterson (Lotus-Ford) - 9
10. Arturo Merzario (Williams-Ford) - 7
11. Howden Ganley (March-Ford) - 6
12. Mike Hailwood (McLaren-Ford) - 5
13. Francois Migault (BRM) - 4
-=. James Hunt (Hesketh-Ford) - 4
-=. John Watson (NW Brabham-Ford) - 4
16. Dave Charlton (NW McLaren-Ford) - 2
-=. Henri Pescarolo (BRM) - 2
-=. Vern Schuppan (Ensign-Ford) - 2
19. Jochen Mass (Surtees-Ford) - 1
20. Vittorio Brambilla (March-Ford) - 1
21. Graham Hill (Lola-Ford)
1974 International Cup for F1 Constructors after 7 rounds
1. Ferrari - 30
2. McLaren-Ford - 29
3. Tyrrell-Ford - 23
4. Brabham-Ford - 22
5. Shadow-Ford - 10
6. Lotus-Ford - 9
7. Williams-Ford - 7
=. March-Ford - 7
9. BRM - 6
10. Hesketh-Ford - 4
11. Ensign-Ford - 2
12. Surtees-Ford - 1
-=. Lola-Ford - 1
Re: The racing career of Ettore Visconti (1973-...)
1974 Grote Prijs van Nederland
Pre-Race
2 months on from his horrific shunt at Nivelles, Ettore Visconti made his return to the track at Zandvoort-a track which had claimed 2 drivers (Piers Courage, Roger Williamson) in the past 5 years. Not the nicest of circuits to make a return from a near life threatening accident.
A buzz of excitement had engulfed the Lola-Hill team, who are supposedly on the verge of signing a contract with Alfa Romeo according to Motoring News (*report was initially released by Motoring News, but changed for story line purposes) despite growing suspicion that Brabham were the forerunners for Italian power due to Ettore Visconti's sponsorship from the Italian company. Motoring News did provide images of the Lola T370 with it's bulkhead adapted to feature an Alfa Romeo flat-12 engine, possibly from the Alfa Romeo 33TT12 entered by Alfa Romeo Autodelta for the Monza 1000km race in the World Sportscar Championship where it won.
Qualifying
Understandably still shaken from the Belgian Grand Prix, Visconti chose to sit out of the practice session, quoted as calling Friday sessions as "a waste of time, f**k it," when asked by a journalist from Autosport why he wasn't competing in the session.
However, come qualifying Ettore would find out that the Friday really is one of the most important sessions of the week, as he struggled all session and only managed one clean flying lap, good enough to place 25th and on the last row. To make matters worse, he was a massive 11.400 seconds down on Regazzoni, and 9 tenths down on 24th. Ferrari would once again lock out the front row, as they continued to prove how brilliant the 312T's were, with Clay Regazzoni ahead of Niki Lauda. Finishing races for them, on the other hand, was a different matter entirely. Emerson Fittipaldi would back up a series of consistent results, which put him 2nd only on countback, with a time fast enough for 3rd place. Emerson was the final car to set a time under the 1 second mark, at 0.843 seconds back, with Jody Scheckter following him home 4th a whole 1.607 down on Regazzoni. Hunt and the impressive Hesketh 308 would continue their fast qualifying form, and Hunt would place 5th ahead of Hans-Joachim Stuck's March 741. While Visconti set a tragic time in his Brabham, it was even worse for the last qualifier in Francois Migault 11.678 down, and for Guy Edwards, in the Lola, and Tom Pryce, in the Token, who were even further back with times 12.841 and 13.099 away from the front Ferrari and would fail to qualify.
(Honestly, some of these times are getting a bit ridiculous-the real pole lap by Niki Lauda was 1:18.31 in 1974!)
1. Clay Regazzoni (Ferrari) - 1:13.006
2. Niki Lauda (Ferrari) - +0.250
3. Emerson Fittipaldi (McLaren-Ford) - +0.843
4. Jody Scheckter (Tyrrell-Ford) - +1.607
5. James Hunt (Hesketh-Ford) - +1.650
6. Hans-Joachim Stuck (March-Ford) - +1.852
7. Carlos Reutemann (Lotus-Ford) - +2.010
8. Arturo Merzario (Williams-Ford) - +2.617
9. John Watson (NW Brabham-Ford) - +2.745
10. Denny Hulme (McLaren-Ford) - +4.035
17. JP Jarier (Shadow-Ford) - +6.792
18. Rikki von Opel (Brabham-Ford) - +7.023
19. Vern Schuppan (Ensign-Ford) - +7.794
24. Tim Schenken (Trojan-Ford) - +10.590
25. Ettore Visconti (Brabham-Ford) - +11.400
26. Francois Migault (BRM) - +11.678
DNQ-Tom Pryce (Token-Ford) - +13.099, Guy Edwards (Lola-Ford) - +12.841
Race
Visconti was as poor as ever away from the start line, dropping behind Francois Migault's BRM. Meanwhile, the brakes of Ronnie Peterson's Lotus gave way instantaneously, as the the Swede was out of the race by turn 3. The Lotus 72, which Lotus had decided to switch back to following the disasters of the 76, was then collected by Frenchman Henri Pescarolo in his BRM, putting both of their races to rest. 2 further retirements happened further down the lap, with Merzario's DFV failing on him while Jacky Ickx's gearbox seized up in the single entered Lotus 76. The semi-automatic gearbox still had it's issues. Jochen Mass would then have a huge accident with Mike Hailwood's McLaren, and Visconti, who had begun to move further up the order, came across the terminally damaged McLaren which was parked in the middle of the road. In a panicked attempt to avoid the M23, he was forced to pitch the Brabham into a spin and lost his front wing in the process.
Dropping almost a lap down to get the car repaired, Visconti re-emerged ahead race leader Clay Regazzoni. However the 2 then tangled, with Regazzoni losing his nose cone (and rear wing following a spin on his own on his way back to the pits) and Visconti his rear wing. Both pitted for repairs, and by this stage Visconti had dropped 4 laps down while Regazzoni had fallen down 2 laps. The race would get even worse for Ferrari, as Niki Lauda could not get the car out of 6th gear and was forced to retire with 8 laps remaining.
Emerson Fittipaldi by this point had taken the lead and was en route to a first win of the season until his suspension failed with 3 laps remaining handing the lead, the win and the championship lead to Jody Scheckter. Gijs van Lennep would take a historic 4th place in front of the home crowd, while Visconti would finish 4 laps down and unclassified having only completed 75% of the race distance. In the end, only 8 cars would be classified at the finish.
1974 Grote Prijs van Nederland Race Results
1. Jody Scheckter (Tyrrell-Ford) - 20:58.273
2. James Hunt (Hesketh-Ford) - +9.069
3. Denny Hulme (McLaren-Ford) - +25.974
4. Gijs van Lennep (Williams-Ford) - +56.106
5. Patrick Depailler (Tyrrell-Ford) - +1:58.893 (pitted on the final lap
)
6. JP Jarier (Shadow-Ford) - +1 lap
7. Tim Schenken (Trojan-Ford) - +1 lap
8. Vern Schuppan (Ensign-Ford) - +1 lap
9. John Watson (NW Brabham-Ford) - NC +2 laps
10. Clay Regazzoni (Ferrari) - NC +2 laps
11. Emerson Fittipaldi (McLaren-Ford) - Suspension
12. Vittorio Brambilla (March-Ford) - Brakes
13. Ettore Visconti (Brabham-Ford) - NC +4 laps
14. JP Beltoise (BRM) - Brakes
15. Graham Hill (Lola-Ford) - Engine
17. Rikki von Opel (Brabham-Ford) - Engine
1974 World Championship for Drivers after 8 rounds
1. Jody Scheckter (Tyrrell-Ford) - 28
2. Ettore Visconti (Brabham-Ford) - 21
3. Emerson Fittipaldi (McLaren-Ford) - 21
4. Niki Lauda (Ferrari) - 19
5. Denny Hulme (McLaren-Ford) - 16
6. Clay Regazzoni (Ferrari) - 15
7. Patrick Depailler (Tyrrell-Ford) - 12
8. JP Jarier (Shadow-Ford) - 11
9. James Hunt (Hesketh-Ford) - 10
10. Ronnie Peterson (Lotus-Ford) - 9
11. Arturo Merzario (Williams-Ford) - 7
12. Howden Ganley (March-Ford) - 6
13. Mike Hailwood (McLaren-Ford) - 5
14. Francois Migault (BRM) - 4
15. John Watson (NW Brabham-Ford) - 4
16. Gijs van Lennep (Williams-Ford) - 3
17. Dave Charlton (NW McLaren-Ford) - 2
18. Henri Pescarolo (BRM) - 2
19. Vern Schuppan (Ensign-Ford) - 2
20. Jochen Mass (Surtees-Ford) - 1
21. Vittorio Brambilla (March-Ford) - 1
22. Graham Hill (Lola-Ford) - 1
1974 International Cup for F1 Constructors after 8 rounds
1. McLaren-Ford - 33 (35)
2. Tyrrell-Ford - 32
3. Ferrari - 30
4. Brabham-Ford - 22
5. Shadow-Ford - 11
6. Hesketh-Ford - 10
7. Williams-Ford - 10
8. Lotus-Ford - 9
9. March-Ford - 7
10. BRM - 6
11. Ensign-Ford - 2
12. Surtees-Ford - 1
13. Lola-Ford - 1
Pre-Race
2 months on from his horrific shunt at Nivelles, Ettore Visconti made his return to the track at Zandvoort-a track which had claimed 2 drivers (Piers Courage, Roger Williamson) in the past 5 years. Not the nicest of circuits to make a return from a near life threatening accident.
A buzz of excitement had engulfed the Lola-Hill team, who are supposedly on the verge of signing a contract with Alfa Romeo according to Motoring News (*report was initially released by Motoring News, but changed for story line purposes) despite growing suspicion that Brabham were the forerunners for Italian power due to Ettore Visconti's sponsorship from the Italian company. Motoring News did provide images of the Lola T370 with it's bulkhead adapted to feature an Alfa Romeo flat-12 engine, possibly from the Alfa Romeo 33TT12 entered by Alfa Romeo Autodelta for the Monza 1000km race in the World Sportscar Championship where it won.
Qualifying
Understandably still shaken from the Belgian Grand Prix, Visconti chose to sit out of the practice session, quoted as calling Friday sessions as "a waste of time, f**k it," when asked by a journalist from Autosport why he wasn't competing in the session.
However, come qualifying Ettore would find out that the Friday really is one of the most important sessions of the week, as he struggled all session and only managed one clean flying lap, good enough to place 25th and on the last row. To make matters worse, he was a massive 11.400 seconds down on Regazzoni, and 9 tenths down on 24th. Ferrari would once again lock out the front row, as they continued to prove how brilliant the 312T's were, with Clay Regazzoni ahead of Niki Lauda. Finishing races for them, on the other hand, was a different matter entirely. Emerson Fittipaldi would back up a series of consistent results, which put him 2nd only on countback, with a time fast enough for 3rd place. Emerson was the final car to set a time under the 1 second mark, at 0.843 seconds back, with Jody Scheckter following him home 4th a whole 1.607 down on Regazzoni. Hunt and the impressive Hesketh 308 would continue their fast qualifying form, and Hunt would place 5th ahead of Hans-Joachim Stuck's March 741. While Visconti set a tragic time in his Brabham, it was even worse for the last qualifier in Francois Migault 11.678 down, and for Guy Edwards, in the Lola, and Tom Pryce, in the Token, who were even further back with times 12.841 and 13.099 away from the front Ferrari and would fail to qualify.
(Honestly, some of these times are getting a bit ridiculous-the real pole lap by Niki Lauda was 1:18.31 in 1974!)
1. Clay Regazzoni (Ferrari) - 1:13.006
2. Niki Lauda (Ferrari) - +0.250
3. Emerson Fittipaldi (McLaren-Ford) - +0.843
4. Jody Scheckter (Tyrrell-Ford) - +1.607
5. James Hunt (Hesketh-Ford) - +1.650
6. Hans-Joachim Stuck (March-Ford) - +1.852
7. Carlos Reutemann (Lotus-Ford) - +2.010
8. Arturo Merzario (Williams-Ford) - +2.617
9. John Watson (NW Brabham-Ford) - +2.745
10. Denny Hulme (McLaren-Ford) - +4.035
17. JP Jarier (Shadow-Ford) - +6.792
18. Rikki von Opel (Brabham-Ford) - +7.023
19. Vern Schuppan (Ensign-Ford) - +7.794
24. Tim Schenken (Trojan-Ford) - +10.590
25. Ettore Visconti (Brabham-Ford) - +11.400
26. Francois Migault (BRM) - +11.678
DNQ-Tom Pryce (Token-Ford) - +13.099, Guy Edwards (Lola-Ford) - +12.841
Race
Visconti was as poor as ever away from the start line, dropping behind Francois Migault's BRM. Meanwhile, the brakes of Ronnie Peterson's Lotus gave way instantaneously, as the the Swede was out of the race by turn 3. The Lotus 72, which Lotus had decided to switch back to following the disasters of the 76, was then collected by Frenchman Henri Pescarolo in his BRM, putting both of their races to rest. 2 further retirements happened further down the lap, with Merzario's DFV failing on him while Jacky Ickx's gearbox seized up in the single entered Lotus 76. The semi-automatic gearbox still had it's issues. Jochen Mass would then have a huge accident with Mike Hailwood's McLaren, and Visconti, who had begun to move further up the order, came across the terminally damaged McLaren which was parked in the middle of the road. In a panicked attempt to avoid the M23, he was forced to pitch the Brabham into a spin and lost his front wing in the process.
Dropping almost a lap down to get the car repaired, Visconti re-emerged ahead race leader Clay Regazzoni. However the 2 then tangled, with Regazzoni losing his nose cone (and rear wing following a spin on his own on his way back to the pits) and Visconti his rear wing. Both pitted for repairs, and by this stage Visconti had dropped 4 laps down while Regazzoni had fallen down 2 laps. The race would get even worse for Ferrari, as Niki Lauda could not get the car out of 6th gear and was forced to retire with 8 laps remaining.
Emerson Fittipaldi by this point had taken the lead and was en route to a first win of the season until his suspension failed with 3 laps remaining handing the lead, the win and the championship lead to Jody Scheckter. Gijs van Lennep would take a historic 4th place in front of the home crowd, while Visconti would finish 4 laps down and unclassified having only completed 75% of the race distance. In the end, only 8 cars would be classified at the finish.
1974 Grote Prijs van Nederland Race Results
1. Jody Scheckter (Tyrrell-Ford) - 20:58.273
2. James Hunt (Hesketh-Ford) - +9.069
3. Denny Hulme (McLaren-Ford) - +25.974
4. Gijs van Lennep (Williams-Ford) - +56.106
5. Patrick Depailler (Tyrrell-Ford) - +1:58.893 (pitted on the final lap
)6. JP Jarier (Shadow-Ford) - +1 lap
7. Tim Schenken (Trojan-Ford) - +1 lap
8. Vern Schuppan (Ensign-Ford) - +1 lap
9. John Watson (NW Brabham-Ford) - NC +2 laps
10. Clay Regazzoni (Ferrari) - NC +2 laps
11. Emerson Fittipaldi (McLaren-Ford) - Suspension
12. Vittorio Brambilla (March-Ford) - Brakes
13. Ettore Visconti (Brabham-Ford) - NC +4 laps
14. JP Beltoise (BRM) - Brakes
15. Graham Hill (Lola-Ford) - Engine
17. Rikki von Opel (Brabham-Ford) - Engine
1974 World Championship for Drivers after 8 rounds
1. Jody Scheckter (Tyrrell-Ford) - 28
2. Ettore Visconti (Brabham-Ford) - 21
3. Emerson Fittipaldi (McLaren-Ford) - 21
4. Niki Lauda (Ferrari) - 19
5. Denny Hulme (McLaren-Ford) - 16
6. Clay Regazzoni (Ferrari) - 15
7. Patrick Depailler (Tyrrell-Ford) - 12
8. JP Jarier (Shadow-Ford) - 11
9. James Hunt (Hesketh-Ford) - 10
10. Ronnie Peterson (Lotus-Ford) - 9
11. Arturo Merzario (Williams-Ford) - 7
12. Howden Ganley (March-Ford) - 6
13. Mike Hailwood (McLaren-Ford) - 5
14. Francois Migault (BRM) - 4
15. John Watson (NW Brabham-Ford) - 4
16. Gijs van Lennep (Williams-Ford) - 3
17. Dave Charlton (NW McLaren-Ford) - 2
18. Henri Pescarolo (BRM) - 2
19. Vern Schuppan (Ensign-Ford) - 2
20. Jochen Mass (Surtees-Ford) - 1
21. Vittorio Brambilla (March-Ford) - 1
22. Graham Hill (Lola-Ford) - 1
1974 International Cup for F1 Constructors after 8 rounds
1. McLaren-Ford - 33 (35)
2. Tyrrell-Ford - 32
3. Ferrari - 30
4. Brabham-Ford - 22
5. Shadow-Ford - 11
6. Hesketh-Ford - 10
7. Williams-Ford - 10
8. Lotus-Ford - 9
9. March-Ford - 7
10. BRM - 6
11. Ensign-Ford - 2
12. Surtees-Ford - 1
13. Lola-Ford - 1
The racing career of Ettore Visconti (1974 France)
1974 Grand Prix de France
Pre-Race
Rumours were growing that Embassy-Hill had lost the Alfa Romeo deal entirely to Brabham. After Visconti paid a visit to the Alfa offices, it seemingly was the determining factor in Alfa's decision to follow the Brabham route. Rumours were also building that Alfa Romeo may well even debut a turbo engine, although this was purely speculation from various untrustable sources. It was likely a flat-12 would be debuted for Ettore Visconti's BT44 and Carlo Facetti in the privateer Scuderia Finotto BT42 at the Gran Premio d'Italia.
What did seem certain for Brabham was Carlos Pace's entrance to the racing line up. Following lacklustre form from "heir-head" Rikky von Opel and the forgettable Richard Robarts, and with a car capable of winning a championship as proven by Visconti, Bernie Ecclestone was on the move for a rich and talented driver. Brazil's Carlos Pace suited the bill perfectly and would get his first shot in a Brabham driving the John Goldie Hexagon BT42b, before getting a proper shot in the the factory Brabham team.
Additionally, Martini were supposedly interested in joining Brabham due to the prospect of having to young talents dicing it out at the front of the pack for 1975 with both Ettore Visconti and Carlos Pace seemingly set to drive the new Alfa powered BT44b's. Brabham was set to return to the front of the F1 pack.
Ferrari meanwhile were becoming undependable, despite being by far and away the fastest cars on the track, while Jody Scheckter briefly became an unstoppable force notching up 2 wins and a 2nd place from the previous 3 rounds.
Practice
With only 22 drivers qualifying from the 31 entrants, it was important that everything was perfect for the tight qualifying session. That was something which Visconti's Brabham was not, resulting in several spins due to a dreadfully loose rear end. A few late adjustments in the session helped improve stability but the times still weren't there as Ettore did not have the confidence to push. In the end, he recorded the 19th fastest lap time although was not far from von Opel in who was 0.358 faster. Leo Kinnunen was surprisingly quick in his customer Surtees, while some big names in Francois Migault and Vittorio Brambilla did not impress posting times 26th and 30th fastest.
Meanwhile, 5 Brabham's took to the track, with both the factory drivers aforementioned. 2 John Goldie Hexagon cars appeared at the track, with Carlos Pace an impressive 15th only 0.123 behind von Opel and ahead of John Watson in the other JG Hexagon who was 16th. Gerard Larrousse was the slowest of the Brabham's in 24th.
This was one of the first session where Ferrari failed to place both cars in the top 3, with 2nd and 4th as the 312B3's were not working on the short and quick Dijon circuit.
1. James Hunt (Hesketh-Ford) - 0:59.354
2. Niki Lauda (Ferrari) - +0.459
3. Jody Scheckter (Tyrrell-Ford) - +0.489
4. Clay Regazzoni (Ferrari) - +0.587
5. Carlos Reutemann (Lotus-Ford) - +1.512
6. Ronnie Peterson (Lotus-Ford) - +1.737
7. Denny Hulme (McLaren-Ford) - +1.797
8. Emerson Fittipaldi (McLaren-Ford) - +1.827
9. JP Jarier (Shadow-Ford) - +2.016
10. Mike Hailwood (McLaren-Ford) - +2.063
14. Rikki von Opel (Brabham-Ford) - +2.400
15. Carlos Pace (NW Brabham-Ford) - +2.523
16. John Watson (NW Brabham-Ford) - +2.607
19. Ettore Visconti (Brabham-Ford) - +2.758
24. Gerard Larrousse (NW Brabham-Ford) - +3.523
Qualifying
**BOO! Champ Result V3 refuses to open up my results file
**
Visconti made up for his poor practice session, and would end up in a strong 8th place behind Mike Hailwood's McLaren and facing the gearbox of Niki Lauda's Ferrari who, for the first time this season, failed to qualify in the top 3, having started from the front row in all Grand Prix but Sweden. Clay Regazzoni maintained the Ferrari tradition that year though, and would qualify 2nd behind the staggeringly quick James Hunt. Only 2 of the 5 Brabham's made it to the grid, with the 3 non works cars DNQing, while Jody Scheckter continued his strong form and qualified 3rd.
1. James Hunt (Hesketh-Ford)
2. Clay Regazzoni (Ferrari)
3. Carlos Reutemann (Lotus-Ford)
4. Jody Scheckter (Tyrrell-Ford)
5. Ronnie Peterson (Lotus-Ford)
6. Niki Lauda (Ferrari)
7. Mike Hailwood
8. Ettore Visconti
9. Rikki von Opel
10. JP Jarier
DNQ-Gerard Larrousse (23rd), Carlos Pace (29th), John Watson (30th)
Race
Clay Regazzoni slingshotted away from the start line and immediately set to gapping the main pack.It was also a strong start for the other inside line starters of Jody Scheckter, Niki Lauda and Ettore Visconti all made positions from the start, with the running order being Regazzoni, Scheckter, Lauda, the two Lotuses and Visconti.
Visconti later picked up light suspension damage following a brief dispute with Ronnie Peterson's Lotus upon overtaking out of the 2nd corner. Visconti was squeezed to the outside of the track where they touched wheels, sending Peterson into the side of Reutemann causing both Peterson and Visconti to spin. By this point, the top 6 were much too far ahead to have lost any position apart from Emerson Fittipaldi who did make his way into 5th past both of them, but the top 7 did change the following lap when last placed Francois Migault attempted to spin his car back round following a slow spin over the kerbing in turn 4 and got into the way of fast moving 2nd placed man Niki Lauda. Visconti moved up 2 places that lap, as he also managed his way down the inside and past Peterson and Fittipaldi would later make the same move a lap later. One more spin for Peterson allowed hard charging Vittorio Brambilla up into the points in 6th, which would become 5th when the other Ferrari ended yet another points run with another accident with a backmarker promoting championship leader, Jody Scheckter, into the lead; he was flying. However, Visconti was charging even harder and passed Emmo then Reutemann a lap later before pushing hard to close the gap down to the Tyrrell of Scheckter and, with 1 lap to spare, he managed to close the gap down to just under a second. Coming into the final corner, it looked like it would be close to the line before Visconti applied the power slightly too quickly on exit and briefly lost rear grip, losing time and in the end the race as he crossed the line 0.600 behind Scheckter who won his 3rd race in a row, and positioned on the podium for the 4th in a row. It was also the first time Ettore scored a point some 5 Grand Prix earlier in Madrid.
1974 Grand Prix de France Race Results
1. Jody Scheckter (Tyrrell-Ford) - 16:08.820 (16 laps)
2. Ettore Visconti (Brabham-Ford) - +0.599
3. Carlos Reutemann (Lotus-Ford) - +9.642
4. Emerson Fittipaldi (McLaren-Ford) - +15.141
5. Vittorio Brambilla (March-Ford) - +28.094
6. Ronnie Peterson (Lotus-Ford) - +28.719
7. Patrick Depailler (Tyrrell-Ford) - +45.242
8. James Hunt (Hesketh-Ford) - +2:43.421
9. Jacky Ickx (Lotus-Ford) - +1 laps
10. Tom Pryce (Shadow-Ford) - +2 laps (Engine)
17. Rikki von Opel (Brabham-Ford) - Engine
1974 World Championship for Drivers after 8 rounds
1. Jody Scheckter (Tyrrell-Ford) - 37
2. Ettore Visconti (Brabham-Ford) - 27
3. Emerson Fittipaldi (McLaren-Ford) - 24
4. Niki Lauda (Ferrari) - 19
5. Denny Hulme (McLaren-Ford) - 16
6. Clay Regazzoni (Ferrari) - 15
7. Patrick Depailler (Tyrrell-Ford) - 12
8. JP Jarier (Shadow-Ford) - 11
9. James Hunt (Hesketh-Ford) - 10
10. Ronnie Peterson (Lotus-Ford) - 10
11. Arturo Merzario (Williams-Ford) - 7
12. Howden Ganley (March-Ford) - 6
13. Mike Hailwood (McLaren-Ford) - 5
14. Francois Migault (BRM) - 4
15. John Watson (NW Brabham-Ford) - 4
16. Carlos Reutemann (Lotus-Ford) - 4
17. Gijs van Lennep (Williams-Ford) - 3
18. Vittorio Brambilla (March-Ford) - 3
19. Dave Charlton (NW McLaren-Ford) - 2
20. Henri Pescarolo (BRM) - 2
21. Vern Schuppan (Ensign-Ford) - 2
22. Jochen Mass (Surtees-Ford) - 1
23. Graham Hill (Lola-Ford) - 1
1974 International Cup for F1 Constructors after 8 rounds
1. Tyrrell-Ford - 41
2. McLaren-Ford - 36 (38)
3. Ferrari - 30
4. Brabham-Ford - 28
5. Lotus-Ford - 13
6. Shadow-Ford - 11
7. Williams-Ford - 10
8. Hesketh-Ford - 10
9. March-Ford - 9
10. BRM - 6
11. Ensign-Ford - 2
12. Surtees-Ford - 1
13. Lola-Ford - 1
Pre-Race
Rumours were growing that Embassy-Hill had lost the Alfa Romeo deal entirely to Brabham. After Visconti paid a visit to the Alfa offices, it seemingly was the determining factor in Alfa's decision to follow the Brabham route. Rumours were also building that Alfa Romeo may well even debut a turbo engine, although this was purely speculation from various untrustable sources. It was likely a flat-12 would be debuted for Ettore Visconti's BT44 and Carlo Facetti in the privateer Scuderia Finotto BT42 at the Gran Premio d'Italia.
What did seem certain for Brabham was Carlos Pace's entrance to the racing line up. Following lacklustre form from "heir-head" Rikky von Opel and the forgettable Richard Robarts, and with a car capable of winning a championship as proven by Visconti, Bernie Ecclestone was on the move for a rich and talented driver. Brazil's Carlos Pace suited the bill perfectly and would get his first shot in a Brabham driving the John Goldie Hexagon BT42b, before getting a proper shot in the the factory Brabham team.
Additionally, Martini were supposedly interested in joining Brabham due to the prospect of having to young talents dicing it out at the front of the pack for 1975 with both Ettore Visconti and Carlos Pace seemingly set to drive the new Alfa powered BT44b's. Brabham was set to return to the front of the F1 pack.
Ferrari meanwhile were becoming undependable, despite being by far and away the fastest cars on the track, while Jody Scheckter briefly became an unstoppable force notching up 2 wins and a 2nd place from the previous 3 rounds.
Practice
With only 22 drivers qualifying from the 31 entrants, it was important that everything was perfect for the tight qualifying session. That was something which Visconti's Brabham was not, resulting in several spins due to a dreadfully loose rear end. A few late adjustments in the session helped improve stability but the times still weren't there as Ettore did not have the confidence to push. In the end, he recorded the 19th fastest lap time although was not far from von Opel in who was 0.358 faster. Leo Kinnunen was surprisingly quick in his customer Surtees, while some big names in Francois Migault and Vittorio Brambilla did not impress posting times 26th and 30th fastest.
Meanwhile, 5 Brabham's took to the track, with both the factory drivers aforementioned. 2 John Goldie Hexagon cars appeared at the track, with Carlos Pace an impressive 15th only 0.123 behind von Opel and ahead of John Watson in the other JG Hexagon who was 16th. Gerard Larrousse was the slowest of the Brabham's in 24th.
This was one of the first session where Ferrari failed to place both cars in the top 3, with 2nd and 4th as the 312B3's were not working on the short and quick Dijon circuit.
1. James Hunt (Hesketh-Ford) - 0:59.354
2. Niki Lauda (Ferrari) - +0.459
3. Jody Scheckter (Tyrrell-Ford) - +0.489
4. Clay Regazzoni (Ferrari) - +0.587
5. Carlos Reutemann (Lotus-Ford) - +1.512
6. Ronnie Peterson (Lotus-Ford) - +1.737
7. Denny Hulme (McLaren-Ford) - +1.797
8. Emerson Fittipaldi (McLaren-Ford) - +1.827
9. JP Jarier (Shadow-Ford) - +2.016
10. Mike Hailwood (McLaren-Ford) - +2.063
14. Rikki von Opel (Brabham-Ford) - +2.400
15. Carlos Pace (NW Brabham-Ford) - +2.523
16. John Watson (NW Brabham-Ford) - +2.607
19. Ettore Visconti (Brabham-Ford) - +2.758
24. Gerard Larrousse (NW Brabham-Ford) - +3.523
Qualifying
**BOO! Champ Result V3 refuses to open up my results file
**Visconti made up for his poor practice session, and would end up in a strong 8th place behind Mike Hailwood's McLaren and facing the gearbox of Niki Lauda's Ferrari who, for the first time this season, failed to qualify in the top 3, having started from the front row in all Grand Prix but Sweden. Clay Regazzoni maintained the Ferrari tradition that year though, and would qualify 2nd behind the staggeringly quick James Hunt. Only 2 of the 5 Brabham's made it to the grid, with the 3 non works cars DNQing, while Jody Scheckter continued his strong form and qualified 3rd.
1. James Hunt (Hesketh-Ford)
2. Clay Regazzoni (Ferrari)
3. Carlos Reutemann (Lotus-Ford)
4. Jody Scheckter (Tyrrell-Ford)
5. Ronnie Peterson (Lotus-Ford)
6. Niki Lauda (Ferrari)
7. Mike Hailwood
8. Ettore Visconti
9. Rikki von Opel
10. JP Jarier
DNQ-Gerard Larrousse (23rd), Carlos Pace (29th), John Watson (30th)
Race
Clay Regazzoni slingshotted away from the start line and immediately set to gapping the main pack.It was also a strong start for the other inside line starters of Jody Scheckter, Niki Lauda and Ettore Visconti all made positions from the start, with the running order being Regazzoni, Scheckter, Lauda, the two Lotuses and Visconti.
Visconti later picked up light suspension damage following a brief dispute with Ronnie Peterson's Lotus upon overtaking out of the 2nd corner. Visconti was squeezed to the outside of the track where they touched wheels, sending Peterson into the side of Reutemann causing both Peterson and Visconti to spin. By this point, the top 6 were much too far ahead to have lost any position apart from Emerson Fittipaldi who did make his way into 5th past both of them, but the top 7 did change the following lap when last placed Francois Migault attempted to spin his car back round following a slow spin over the kerbing in turn 4 and got into the way of fast moving 2nd placed man Niki Lauda. Visconti moved up 2 places that lap, as he also managed his way down the inside and past Peterson and Fittipaldi would later make the same move a lap later. One more spin for Peterson allowed hard charging Vittorio Brambilla up into the points in 6th, which would become 5th when the other Ferrari ended yet another points run with another accident with a backmarker promoting championship leader, Jody Scheckter, into the lead; he was flying. However, Visconti was charging even harder and passed Emmo then Reutemann a lap later before pushing hard to close the gap down to the Tyrrell of Scheckter and, with 1 lap to spare, he managed to close the gap down to just under a second. Coming into the final corner, it looked like it would be close to the line before Visconti applied the power slightly too quickly on exit and briefly lost rear grip, losing time and in the end the race as he crossed the line 0.600 behind Scheckter who won his 3rd race in a row, and positioned on the podium for the 4th in a row. It was also the first time Ettore scored a point some 5 Grand Prix earlier in Madrid.
1974 Grand Prix de France Race Results
1. Jody Scheckter (Tyrrell-Ford) - 16:08.820 (16 laps)
2. Ettore Visconti (Brabham-Ford) - +0.599
3. Carlos Reutemann (Lotus-Ford) - +9.642
4. Emerson Fittipaldi (McLaren-Ford) - +15.141
5. Vittorio Brambilla (March-Ford) - +28.094
6. Ronnie Peterson (Lotus-Ford) - +28.719
7. Patrick Depailler (Tyrrell-Ford) - +45.242
8. James Hunt (Hesketh-Ford) - +2:43.421
9. Jacky Ickx (Lotus-Ford) - +1 laps
10. Tom Pryce (Shadow-Ford) - +2 laps (Engine)
17. Rikki von Opel (Brabham-Ford) - Engine
1974 World Championship for Drivers after 8 rounds
1. Jody Scheckter (Tyrrell-Ford) - 37
2. Ettore Visconti (Brabham-Ford) - 27
3. Emerson Fittipaldi (McLaren-Ford) - 24
4. Niki Lauda (Ferrari) - 19
5. Denny Hulme (McLaren-Ford) - 16
6. Clay Regazzoni (Ferrari) - 15
7. Patrick Depailler (Tyrrell-Ford) - 12
8. JP Jarier (Shadow-Ford) - 11
9. James Hunt (Hesketh-Ford) - 10
10. Ronnie Peterson (Lotus-Ford) - 10
11. Arturo Merzario (Williams-Ford) - 7
12. Howden Ganley (March-Ford) - 6
13. Mike Hailwood (McLaren-Ford) - 5
14. Francois Migault (BRM) - 4
15. John Watson (NW Brabham-Ford) - 4
16. Carlos Reutemann (Lotus-Ford) - 4
17. Gijs van Lennep (Williams-Ford) - 3
18. Vittorio Brambilla (March-Ford) - 3
19. Dave Charlton (NW McLaren-Ford) - 2
20. Henri Pescarolo (BRM) - 2
21. Vern Schuppan (Ensign-Ford) - 2
22. Jochen Mass (Surtees-Ford) - 1
23. Graham Hill (Lola-Ford) - 1
1974 International Cup for F1 Constructors after 8 rounds
1. Tyrrell-Ford - 41
2. McLaren-Ford - 36 (38)
3. Ferrari - 30
4. Brabham-Ford - 28
5. Lotus-Ford - 13
6. Shadow-Ford - 11
7. Williams-Ford - 10
8. Hesketh-Ford - 10
9. March-Ford - 9
10. BRM - 6
11. Ensign-Ford - 2
12. Surtees-Ford - 1
13. Lola-Ford - 1
Re: The racing career of Ettore Visconti (1973-...)
1974 British Grand Prix
Pre-Race
Brabham officially secured Alfa Romeo flat-12's for use in the 1975 season, with Alfa Romeo offering engines for Visconti in the German and Italian rounds of the season, and also to Carlo Facetti in Monza. Pace also officially confirmed that he had joined Brabham.
Several one-off entrants would appear at this years British Grand Prix wit a total of 33 entrants. Lella Lombardi would appear in a Brabham BT42, ex-Ferrari and McLaren driver Derek Bell was entered by Surtees, Leo Kinnunen would return for his 4th F1 start, John Nicholson would debut the Lyncar 006 which had appeared at the BRDC Trophy and the RoC finishing 6th and 15th, and David Purley would make another appearance in a Token.
The season continued to edge closer to Jody Scheckter following a dominative performance where he secured 3 wins in a row, more than any other driver in the field: Ettore Visconti had 2; Niki Lauda had 2; Denny Hulme and Ronnie Peterson both only had 1.
Practice
James Hunt took an early dominative role, beating the rest of the field massively. Regazzoni and Visconti were the closest to him, a huge 0.873 and 1.009 away from the Hesketh which stuck to the British soil it was made on. Hunt was so quick in fact that only 6 cars were within 2 seconds of the Hesketh! The Ferrari's still remained more or less at the front, in 2nd and 4th, but Jody Scheckter was nowhere to be seen-a 9th fastest lap time for the championship leader was not planned.
4 British cars filled the top 6, while 3 more British cars completed the Top 10-not surprising when there are only 5 non-British entered cars on the grid.
1. James Hunt (Hesketh-Ford) - 1:19.562
2. Clay Regazzoni (Ferrari) - +0.873
3. Ettore Visconti (Brabham-Ford) - +1.009
4. Niki Lauda (Ferrari) - +1.356
5. Carlos Pace (Brabham-Ford) - +1.382
6. Carlos Reutemann (Lotus-Ford) - +1.763
7. Patrick Depailler (Tyrrell-Ford) - +2.024
8. Tom Pryce (Shadow-Ford) - +2.029
9. Jody Scheckter (Tyrrell-Ford) - +2.048
10. Ronnie Peterson (Lotus-Ford) - +2.128
11. John Watson (NW Brabham-Ford) - +2.667
23. Lella Lombardi (NW Brabham-Ford) - +4.239
Qualifying
The Saturday crowd was massive as they watched the enigmatic James Hunt again demolish the rest of the field. Unlike the Friday, it was a closer session where Hunt just edged out Visconti and the two Ferraris. Visconti had some early problems adjusting to the softer shoes put onto his car, having run the practice session on the hard tyres but eventually set a solid time to place just ahead of the Ferrari's. Scheckter picked up his form in attempt to protect his championship lead as best as possible. Carlos Pace proved his skill in a strong car, lapping 6th and only 5 tenths from Visconti in the lead Brabham.
Surprisingly, Leo Kinnunen, Lella Lombardi and John Nicholson all qualified (20th, 19th and 17th) while some names such as Mike Hailwood in his McLaren, JP Beltoise in the BRM and Tom Pryce in his Shadow all failed to qualify!
1. James Hunt (Hesketh-Ford) - 1:20.281
2. Ettore Visconti (Brabham-Ford) - +0.355
3. Clay Regazzoni (Ferrari) - +0.382
4. Niki Lauda (Ferrari) - +0.406
5. Jody Scheckter (Tyrrell-Ford) - +0.805
6. Carlos Pace (Surtees-Ford) - +0.942
7. Patrick Depailler (Tyrrell-Ford) - +1.212
8. Ronnie Peterson (Lotus-Ford) - +1.534
9. Denny Hulme (McLaren-Ford) - +1.982
10. John Watson (NW Brabham-Ford) - +2.134
19. Lella Lombardi (NW Brabham-Ford) - +3.566
Race
James Hunt and Regazzoni left the line cleanly, with Visconti dropping in just behind and Niki Lauda following suit. However, Regazzoni continued to ruin his races when he spun into the first corner after taking too much kerb, spinning into the path of Carlos Pace. Neither car were damaged, however this allowed the front 4 cars of Hunt, Visconti, Lauda and Scheckter to build an early lead. Hunt had immediately pulled away a 7 second lead after the first 5 laps, with Visconti holding off Scheckter and Lauda a couple seconds further back. Visconti finally cleared Scheckter and quickly started reeling in Hunt and by lap 9 was only 0.600 seconds off when, on lap 13, John Nicholson, now a lap down, spun in front of the Brabham and cost the Italian his front wing. Scheckter had retired from an engine failure, which promoted Lauda into 3rd and then into 2nd when Visconti went into the pit lane. Meanwhile, Hunt had lapped everyone but Lauda and Visconti, and proceeded to close down the Brabham who again on lap 17 ran into a spinning car, this time of Patrick Depailler, and lost his wing again. Visconti just stayed a lap ahead and when Hunt completed his final lap, Visconti was just ahead enough to finish all 19 laps of the race to secure his 4th podium of the season. Lauda in 2nd scored his first points since winning in Belgium several rounds earlier, and Hunt in 1st made sure his Hesketh had finished on every step of the podium after finishing 3rd in Sweden, 2nd in the Nederlands and now 1st at Silverstone.
1974 British Grand Prix Race Results
1. James Hunt (Hesketh-Ford) - 23:25.275
2. Niki Lauda (Ferrari) - +7.429
3. Ettore Visconti (Brabham-Ford) - +1:18.029
4. JP Jarier (Shadow-Ford) - +1 Laps
5. Carlos Pace (Brabham-Ford) - +1 Laps
6. Francois Migault (BRM) - +1 Laps
7. John Watson (NW Brabham-Ford) - +1 Laps
8. Leo Kinnunen (Surtees-Ford) - +1 Laps
9. Hans Stuck (March-Ford) - +1 Laps
10. Carlos Reutemann (Lotus-Ford) - +1 Laps
16. Lella Lombardi (NW Brabham-Ford) - +2 Laps
1974 World Championship for Drivers
1. Jody Scheckter (Tyrrell-Ford) - 37
2. Ettore Visconti (Brabham-Ford) - 31
3. Niki Lauda (Ferrari) - 25
4. Emerson Fittipaldi (McLaren-Ford) - 24
5. James Hunt (Hesketh-Ford) - 19
6. Denny Hulme (McLaren-Ford) - 16
7. Clay Regazzoni (Ferrari) - 15
8. Jean-Pierre Jarier (Shadow-Ford) - 14
9. Patrick Depailler (Tyrrell-Ford) - 14
10. Ronnie Peterson (Lotus-Ford) - 10
11. Arturo Merzario (Williams-Ford) - 7
12. Howden Ganley (March-Ford) - 6
13. Francois Migault (BRM) - 5
14. Mike Hailwood (McLaren-Ford) - 5
15. John Watson (NW Brabham-Ford) - 4
16. Carlos Reutemann (Lotus-Ford) - 4
17. Gijs van Lennep (Williams-Ford) - 3
18. Vittorio Brambilla (March-Ford) - 3
19. Dave Charlton (McLaren-Ford) - 2
20. Henri Pescarolo (BRM) - 2
21. Vern Schuppan (Ensign-Ford) - 2
22. Carlos Pace (Brabham-Ford) - 2
23. Jochen Mass (Surtees-Ford) - 1
24. Graham Hill (Lola-Ford) - 1
1974 International Cup for F1 Constructors
1. Tyrrell-Ford - 41
2. McLaren-Ford - 36
3. Ferrari - 36
4. Brabham-Ford - 32
5. Hesketh-Ford - 19
6. Shadow-Ford - 14
7. Lotus-Ford - 13
8. Williams-Ford - 10
9. March-Ford - 9
10. BRM - 7
11. Ensign-Ford - 2
12. Surtees-Ford - 1
13. Lola-Ford - 1
Pre-Race
Brabham officially secured Alfa Romeo flat-12's for use in the 1975 season, with Alfa Romeo offering engines for Visconti in the German and Italian rounds of the season, and also to Carlo Facetti in Monza. Pace also officially confirmed that he had joined Brabham.
Several one-off entrants would appear at this years British Grand Prix wit a total of 33 entrants. Lella Lombardi would appear in a Brabham BT42, ex-Ferrari and McLaren driver Derek Bell was entered by Surtees, Leo Kinnunen would return for his 4th F1 start, John Nicholson would debut the Lyncar 006 which had appeared at the BRDC Trophy and the RoC finishing 6th and 15th, and David Purley would make another appearance in a Token.
The season continued to edge closer to Jody Scheckter following a dominative performance where he secured 3 wins in a row, more than any other driver in the field: Ettore Visconti had 2; Niki Lauda had 2; Denny Hulme and Ronnie Peterson both only had 1.
Practice
James Hunt took an early dominative role, beating the rest of the field massively. Regazzoni and Visconti were the closest to him, a huge 0.873 and 1.009 away from the Hesketh which stuck to the British soil it was made on. Hunt was so quick in fact that only 6 cars were within 2 seconds of the Hesketh! The Ferrari's still remained more or less at the front, in 2nd and 4th, but Jody Scheckter was nowhere to be seen-a 9th fastest lap time for the championship leader was not planned.
4 British cars filled the top 6, while 3 more British cars completed the Top 10-not surprising when there are only 5 non-British entered cars on the grid.
1. James Hunt (Hesketh-Ford) - 1:19.562
2. Clay Regazzoni (Ferrari) - +0.873
3. Ettore Visconti (Brabham-Ford) - +1.009
4. Niki Lauda (Ferrari) - +1.356
5. Carlos Pace (Brabham-Ford) - +1.382
6. Carlos Reutemann (Lotus-Ford) - +1.763
7. Patrick Depailler (Tyrrell-Ford) - +2.024
8. Tom Pryce (Shadow-Ford) - +2.029
9. Jody Scheckter (Tyrrell-Ford) - +2.048
10. Ronnie Peterson (Lotus-Ford) - +2.128
11. John Watson (NW Brabham-Ford) - +2.667
23. Lella Lombardi (NW Brabham-Ford) - +4.239
Qualifying
The Saturday crowd was massive as they watched the enigmatic James Hunt again demolish the rest of the field. Unlike the Friday, it was a closer session where Hunt just edged out Visconti and the two Ferraris. Visconti had some early problems adjusting to the softer shoes put onto his car, having run the practice session on the hard tyres but eventually set a solid time to place just ahead of the Ferrari's. Scheckter picked up his form in attempt to protect his championship lead as best as possible. Carlos Pace proved his skill in a strong car, lapping 6th and only 5 tenths from Visconti in the lead Brabham.
Surprisingly, Leo Kinnunen, Lella Lombardi and John Nicholson all qualified (20th, 19th and 17th) while some names such as Mike Hailwood in his McLaren, JP Beltoise in the BRM and Tom Pryce in his Shadow all failed to qualify!
1. James Hunt (Hesketh-Ford) - 1:20.281
2. Ettore Visconti (Brabham-Ford) - +0.355
3. Clay Regazzoni (Ferrari) - +0.382
4. Niki Lauda (Ferrari) - +0.406
5. Jody Scheckter (Tyrrell-Ford) - +0.805
6. Carlos Pace (Surtees-Ford) - +0.942
7. Patrick Depailler (Tyrrell-Ford) - +1.212
8. Ronnie Peterson (Lotus-Ford) - +1.534
9. Denny Hulme (McLaren-Ford) - +1.982
10. John Watson (NW Brabham-Ford) - +2.134
19. Lella Lombardi (NW Brabham-Ford) - +3.566
Race
James Hunt and Regazzoni left the line cleanly, with Visconti dropping in just behind and Niki Lauda following suit. However, Regazzoni continued to ruin his races when he spun into the first corner after taking too much kerb, spinning into the path of Carlos Pace. Neither car were damaged, however this allowed the front 4 cars of Hunt, Visconti, Lauda and Scheckter to build an early lead. Hunt had immediately pulled away a 7 second lead after the first 5 laps, with Visconti holding off Scheckter and Lauda a couple seconds further back. Visconti finally cleared Scheckter and quickly started reeling in Hunt and by lap 9 was only 0.600 seconds off when, on lap 13, John Nicholson, now a lap down, spun in front of the Brabham and cost the Italian his front wing. Scheckter had retired from an engine failure, which promoted Lauda into 3rd and then into 2nd when Visconti went into the pit lane. Meanwhile, Hunt had lapped everyone but Lauda and Visconti, and proceeded to close down the Brabham who again on lap 17 ran into a spinning car, this time of Patrick Depailler, and lost his wing again. Visconti just stayed a lap ahead and when Hunt completed his final lap, Visconti was just ahead enough to finish all 19 laps of the race to secure his 4th podium of the season. Lauda in 2nd scored his first points since winning in Belgium several rounds earlier, and Hunt in 1st made sure his Hesketh had finished on every step of the podium after finishing 3rd in Sweden, 2nd in the Nederlands and now 1st at Silverstone.
1974 British Grand Prix Race Results
1. James Hunt (Hesketh-Ford) - 23:25.275
2. Niki Lauda (Ferrari) - +7.429
3. Ettore Visconti (Brabham-Ford) - +1:18.029
4. JP Jarier (Shadow-Ford) - +1 Laps
5. Carlos Pace (Brabham-Ford) - +1 Laps
6. Francois Migault (BRM) - +1 Laps
7. John Watson (NW Brabham-Ford) - +1 Laps
8. Leo Kinnunen (Surtees-Ford) - +1 Laps
9. Hans Stuck (March-Ford) - +1 Laps
10. Carlos Reutemann (Lotus-Ford) - +1 Laps
16. Lella Lombardi (NW Brabham-Ford) - +2 Laps
1974 World Championship for Drivers
1. Jody Scheckter (Tyrrell-Ford) - 37
2. Ettore Visconti (Brabham-Ford) - 31
3. Niki Lauda (Ferrari) - 25
4. Emerson Fittipaldi (McLaren-Ford) - 24
5. James Hunt (Hesketh-Ford) - 19
6. Denny Hulme (McLaren-Ford) - 16
7. Clay Regazzoni (Ferrari) - 15
8. Jean-Pierre Jarier (Shadow-Ford) - 14
9. Patrick Depailler (Tyrrell-Ford) - 14
10. Ronnie Peterson (Lotus-Ford) - 10
11. Arturo Merzario (Williams-Ford) - 7
12. Howden Ganley (March-Ford) - 6
13. Francois Migault (BRM) - 5
14. Mike Hailwood (McLaren-Ford) - 5
15. John Watson (NW Brabham-Ford) - 4
16. Carlos Reutemann (Lotus-Ford) - 4
17. Gijs van Lennep (Williams-Ford) - 3
18. Vittorio Brambilla (March-Ford) - 3
19. Dave Charlton (McLaren-Ford) - 2
20. Henri Pescarolo (BRM) - 2
21. Vern Schuppan (Ensign-Ford) - 2
22. Carlos Pace (Brabham-Ford) - 2
23. Jochen Mass (Surtees-Ford) - 1
24. Graham Hill (Lola-Ford) - 1
1974 International Cup for F1 Constructors
1. Tyrrell-Ford - 41
2. McLaren-Ford - 36
3. Ferrari - 36
4. Brabham-Ford - 32
5. Hesketh-Ford - 19
6. Shadow-Ford - 14
7. Lotus-Ford - 13
8. Williams-Ford - 10
9. March-Ford - 9
10. BRM - 7
11. Ensign-Ford - 2
12. Surtees-Ford - 1
13. Lola-Ford - 1
Re: The racing career of Ettore Visconti (1973-...)
1974 Grober Preis von Deutschland
Pre-Race
The famous green hell played host to the German Grand Prix once again with the title battle become tighter and tighter. With 5 rounds to go, mathematically any driver could still win the championship but realistically only the top 7 could win the title. 6 different drivers had won in at least one of the 10 rounds, with only 3 multiple race winners (Scheckter-3, Visconti and Lauda-2). Despite their domination over a single lap, reliability and driver consistency were really ruining Ferrari's chances of a title having secured 7 pole positions, yet only managing 2 wins-both from Lauda.
This Grand Prix would also be the re-entrance of Alfa Romeo to Formula 1, following a dissapointing attempt with March in 1971 failing to score a single point with Andrea de Adamich, Nanni Galli and one race with Ronnie Peterson. Ettore Visconti would be running the single Alfa Romeo in the hope there would be a speed difference to the popular Cosworth DFV's run by all teams but Ferrari and BRM.
Practice
Alfa Romeo hardly set a strong impression as Visconti's Brabham went up in smoke barely half way round his outlap, his gear changes meant for the more resiliant Cozzie being too much for the fragile Italian machinery. The other Italians, Ferrari, had a much better time of it though with Regazzoni again at the top ahead of Lauda. Scheckter and Reutemann were the next up but were absolutely lost in pace compared to Regazzoni and Lauda, over 8 seconds away from anything set by Regazzoni and a smaller yet equally as hideous 6 seconds back from Lauda's best lap. Carlos Pace's Cosworth powered Brabham fared much better than the Alfa version, as he managed to set a time quick enough for 9th (yet 25.472 seconds off of the Ferrari's!).
1. Clay Regazzoni (Ferrari) - 7:14.617
2. Niki Lauda (Ferrari) - +2.761
3. Jody Scheckter (Tyrrell-Ford) - +8.322
4. Carlos Reutemann (Lotus-Ford) - +8.644
5. Emerson Fittipaldi (McLaren-Ford) - +9.579
6. James Hunt (Hesketh-Ford) - +12.470
7. Denny Hulme (McLaren-Ford) - +13.568
8. Ronnie Peterson (Lotus-Ford) - +14.954
9. Carlos Pace (Brabham-Ford) - +25.472
10. JP Beltoise (BRM) - +27.816
21. John Watson (NW Brabham-Ford) - +44.768
Qualifying
This time the Alfa Romeo engine managed to finish a lap. In fact, it managed to finish 4 laps consecutively before the inevitable happened. The Nordschleife was proving to be a real hell for Alfa Romeo. Nonetheless, working with a car which had yet to complete a lap, Visconti was able to set a time strong enough for a decent 8th place which could be strong enough for another points finish. Regazzoni again controlled the pace of the session with Lauda behind him, howver James Hunt and Emmo Fittipaldi challenged a little harder than they had in the previous session. With only 25 cars starting, 7 of the 32 cars would not compete come race day and suprisingly John Watson failed to qualify, while names such as Guy Edwards (Lola-Hill), Tim Schenken (Trojan) and Larry Perkins (Amon) expectedly did not meet the required times to qualify. Guy Edwards was really, really, appauling slow. Formula 2 newcomer, Jacques Laffite, also failed to qualify his Iso-Marlboro.
1. Clay Regazzoni (Ferrari) - 7:20.911
2. Niki Lauda (Ferrari) - +4.383
3. James Hunt (Hesketh-Ford) - +5.922
4. Emerson Fittipaldi (McLaren-Ford) - +6.059
5. Jody Scheckter (Tyrrell-Ford) - +8.334
6. Ronnie Peterson (Lotus-Ford) - +11.748
7. Carlos Reutemann (Lotus-Ford) - +12.597
8. Ettore Visconti (Brabham-Alfa Romeo) - +18.562
9. Denny Hulme (McLaren-Ford) - +18.750
10. Hans Stuck (March-Ford) - +18.764
14. Carlos Pace (Brabham-Ford) - +22.835
DNQ. John Watson (NW Brabham-Ford) - +40.568 (26th)
DNQ. Guy Edwards (Lola-Ford) - +1:21.160 (32nd)
Race
Nearly stalling it on the grid, Visconti dropped down to 9th behind Denny Hulme but re-took the place, as well as 8th and 7th, by outbreaking the McLaren and the 2 Lotuses into the first corner. Around the outside of the Sud curve, Visconti managed to squeeze past the Tyrrell and proceeded to close in on Fittipaldi's McLaren which had followed the 2 Ferrari's and James Hunt, managing to pull out a 1 second lead over the Brabham in 5th. The Alfa showed it's edge and Ettore closed in and into the corner before Hatzenbach was able to snatch 4th away from the Brazilian's hands. The Alfa continued to fly through the fast sections and approached the slow Hesketh-Ford of Hunt as they went over Flugplatz, and just eased past the Brit whom he had been punched in the face in the previous British Grand Prix. The Brabham wasn't strong enough to close in on the Ferrari's and any chance of catching them was quickly quenched following a spin on lap 2, allowing Fittipaldi up into 3rd which became 2nd when disaster struck Niki Lauda's Ferrari engine and left him sidelined and out of the race from 2nd. More points go missing for Ferrari. The order remained firmly set, until Hunt (from 5th), Reutemann (also from 5th, after inheriting the position from Hunt) and Peterson (as Reutemann) all problems: Hunt's engine failed; Reutemann's suspension collapsed following Flugplatz; Peterson spun and lost his front wing and dropped to 7th on the last lap. When closing on Fittipaldi, Visconti had problems of his own. Into the final half of the final lap, a white smoke trail began to follow the Brabham around the track-an oil pipe had severed when Visconti went to hard into the Karrousell. The Alfa JUST made it to the end of the race, with the engine exploding into a cloud of black smoke and fire just after crossing the finish line. Regazzoni won his first race, and duly so after a stunningly dominant performance in Germany, with Fittipaldi scoring yet another podium-in Fitti's eyes, consistency was key with 8 points finishes from 11 races and 3 podiums. Due to the high attrition rate, Ian Ashley was able to scored his first point with Token!
1974 Grober Preis von Deutschland Race Results
1. Clay Regazzoni (Ferrari) - 30:57.623
2. Emerson Fittipaldi (McLaren-Ford) - +13.150
3. Ettore Visconti (Brabham-Alfa Romeo) - +50.945
4. Denny Hulme (McLaren-Ford) - +1:39.857
5. Francois Migault (BRM) - +3:03.012
6. Ian Ashley (Token-Ford) - +3:45.763
7. Ronnie Peterson (Lotus-Ford) - +4:08.646
8. Graham Hill (Lola-Ford) - +4:09.686
9. Vern Schuppan (Ensign-Ford) - Gearbox (+1 Laps)
10. James Hunt (Hesketh-Ford) - Engine (+1 Laps)
20. Carlos Pace (Brabham-Ford) - Suspension (+3 Laps)
1974 World Championship for Drivers
1. Jody Scheckter (Tyrrell-Ford) - 37
2. Ettore Visconti (Brabham-Ford) - 35
3. Emerson Fittipaldi (McLaren-Ford) - 30
4. Niki Lauda (Ferrari) - 25
5. Clay Regazzoni (Ferrari) - 24
6. James Hunt (Hesketh-Ford) - 19
7. Denny Hulme (McLaren-Ford) - 19
8. Jean-Pierre Jarier (Shadow-Ford) - 14
9. Patrick Depailler (Tyrrell-Ford) - 12
10. Ronnie Peterson (Lotus-Ford) - 10
11. Arturo Merzario (Williams-Ford) - 7
12. Francois Migault (BRM) - 7
13. Howden Ganley (March-Ford) - 6
14. Mike Hailwood (McLaren-Ford) - 5
15. John Watson (NW Brabham-Ford) - 4
16. Carlos Reutemann (Lotus-Ford) - 4
17. Gijs van Lennep (Williams-Ford) - 3
18. Vittorio Brambilla (March-Ford) - 3
19. Dave Charlton (McLaren-Ford) - 2
20. Henri Pescarolo (BRM) - 2
21. Vern Schuppan (Ensign-Ford) - 2
22. Carlos Pace (Brabham-Ford) - 2
23. Jochen Mass (Surtees-Ford) - 1
24. Graham Hill (Lola-Ford) - 1
25. Ian Ashley (Token-Ford) - 1
1974 International Cup for F1 Constructors
1. Ferrari - 45
2. McLaren-Ford - 42
3. Tyrrell-Ford - 41
4. Brabham-Ford - 32
5. Hesketh-Ford - 19
6. Shadow-Ford - 14
7. Lotus-Ford - 13
8. Williams-Ford - 10
9. March-Ford - 9
10. BRM - 9
11. Brabham-Alfa Romeo - 4
12. Ensign-Ford - 2
13. Surtees-Ford - 1
14. Lola-Ford - 1
15. Token-Ford - 1
Pre-Race
The famous green hell played host to the German Grand Prix once again with the title battle become tighter and tighter. With 5 rounds to go, mathematically any driver could still win the championship but realistically only the top 7 could win the title. 6 different drivers had won in at least one of the 10 rounds, with only 3 multiple race winners (Scheckter-3, Visconti and Lauda-2). Despite their domination over a single lap, reliability and driver consistency were really ruining Ferrari's chances of a title having secured 7 pole positions, yet only managing 2 wins-both from Lauda.
This Grand Prix would also be the re-entrance of Alfa Romeo to Formula 1, following a dissapointing attempt with March in 1971 failing to score a single point with Andrea de Adamich, Nanni Galli and one race with Ronnie Peterson. Ettore Visconti would be running the single Alfa Romeo in the hope there would be a speed difference to the popular Cosworth DFV's run by all teams but Ferrari and BRM.
Practice
Alfa Romeo hardly set a strong impression as Visconti's Brabham went up in smoke barely half way round his outlap, his gear changes meant for the more resiliant Cozzie being too much for the fragile Italian machinery. The other Italians, Ferrari, had a much better time of it though with Regazzoni again at the top ahead of Lauda. Scheckter and Reutemann were the next up but were absolutely lost in pace compared to Regazzoni and Lauda, over 8 seconds away from anything set by Regazzoni and a smaller yet equally as hideous 6 seconds back from Lauda's best lap. Carlos Pace's Cosworth powered Brabham fared much better than the Alfa version, as he managed to set a time quick enough for 9th (yet 25.472 seconds off of the Ferrari's!).
1. Clay Regazzoni (Ferrari) - 7:14.617
2. Niki Lauda (Ferrari) - +2.761
3. Jody Scheckter (Tyrrell-Ford) - +8.322
4. Carlos Reutemann (Lotus-Ford) - +8.644
5. Emerson Fittipaldi (McLaren-Ford) - +9.579
6. James Hunt (Hesketh-Ford) - +12.470
7. Denny Hulme (McLaren-Ford) - +13.568
8. Ronnie Peterson (Lotus-Ford) - +14.954
9. Carlos Pace (Brabham-Ford) - +25.472
10. JP Beltoise (BRM) - +27.816
21. John Watson (NW Brabham-Ford) - +44.768
Qualifying
This time the Alfa Romeo engine managed to finish a lap. In fact, it managed to finish 4 laps consecutively before the inevitable happened. The Nordschleife was proving to be a real hell for Alfa Romeo. Nonetheless, working with a car which had yet to complete a lap, Visconti was able to set a time strong enough for a decent 8th place which could be strong enough for another points finish. Regazzoni again controlled the pace of the session with Lauda behind him, howver James Hunt and Emmo Fittipaldi challenged a little harder than they had in the previous session. With only 25 cars starting, 7 of the 32 cars would not compete come race day and suprisingly John Watson failed to qualify, while names such as Guy Edwards (Lola-Hill), Tim Schenken (Trojan) and Larry Perkins (Amon) expectedly did not meet the required times to qualify. Guy Edwards was really, really, appauling slow. Formula 2 newcomer, Jacques Laffite, also failed to qualify his Iso-Marlboro.
1. Clay Regazzoni (Ferrari) - 7:20.911
2. Niki Lauda (Ferrari) - +4.383
3. James Hunt (Hesketh-Ford) - +5.922
4. Emerson Fittipaldi (McLaren-Ford) - +6.059
5. Jody Scheckter (Tyrrell-Ford) - +8.334
6. Ronnie Peterson (Lotus-Ford) - +11.748
7. Carlos Reutemann (Lotus-Ford) - +12.597
8. Ettore Visconti (Brabham-Alfa Romeo) - +18.562
9. Denny Hulme (McLaren-Ford) - +18.750
10. Hans Stuck (March-Ford) - +18.764
14. Carlos Pace (Brabham-Ford) - +22.835
DNQ. John Watson (NW Brabham-Ford) - +40.568 (26th)
DNQ. Guy Edwards (Lola-Ford) - +1:21.160 (32nd)
Race
Nearly stalling it on the grid, Visconti dropped down to 9th behind Denny Hulme but re-took the place, as well as 8th and 7th, by outbreaking the McLaren and the 2 Lotuses into the first corner. Around the outside of the Sud curve, Visconti managed to squeeze past the Tyrrell and proceeded to close in on Fittipaldi's McLaren which had followed the 2 Ferrari's and James Hunt, managing to pull out a 1 second lead over the Brabham in 5th. The Alfa showed it's edge and Ettore closed in and into the corner before Hatzenbach was able to snatch 4th away from the Brazilian's hands. The Alfa continued to fly through the fast sections and approached the slow Hesketh-Ford of Hunt as they went over Flugplatz, and just eased past the Brit whom he had been punched in the face in the previous British Grand Prix. The Brabham wasn't strong enough to close in on the Ferrari's and any chance of catching them was quickly quenched following a spin on lap 2, allowing Fittipaldi up into 3rd which became 2nd when disaster struck Niki Lauda's Ferrari engine and left him sidelined and out of the race from 2nd. More points go missing for Ferrari. The order remained firmly set, until Hunt (from 5th), Reutemann (also from 5th, after inheriting the position from Hunt) and Peterson (as Reutemann) all problems: Hunt's engine failed; Reutemann's suspension collapsed following Flugplatz; Peterson spun and lost his front wing and dropped to 7th on the last lap. When closing on Fittipaldi, Visconti had problems of his own. Into the final half of the final lap, a white smoke trail began to follow the Brabham around the track-an oil pipe had severed when Visconti went to hard into the Karrousell. The Alfa JUST made it to the end of the race, with the engine exploding into a cloud of black smoke and fire just after crossing the finish line. Regazzoni won his first race, and duly so after a stunningly dominant performance in Germany, with Fittipaldi scoring yet another podium-in Fitti's eyes, consistency was key with 8 points finishes from 11 races and 3 podiums. Due to the high attrition rate, Ian Ashley was able to scored his first point with Token!
1974 Grober Preis von Deutschland Race Results
1. Clay Regazzoni (Ferrari) - 30:57.623
2. Emerson Fittipaldi (McLaren-Ford) - +13.150
3. Ettore Visconti (Brabham-Alfa Romeo) - +50.945
4. Denny Hulme (McLaren-Ford) - +1:39.857
5. Francois Migault (BRM) - +3:03.012
6. Ian Ashley (Token-Ford) - +3:45.763
7. Ronnie Peterson (Lotus-Ford) - +4:08.646
8. Graham Hill (Lola-Ford) - +4:09.686
9. Vern Schuppan (Ensign-Ford) - Gearbox (+1 Laps)
10. James Hunt (Hesketh-Ford) - Engine (+1 Laps)
20. Carlos Pace (Brabham-Ford) - Suspension (+3 Laps)
1974 World Championship for Drivers
1. Jody Scheckter (Tyrrell-Ford) - 37
2. Ettore Visconti (Brabham-Ford) - 35
3. Emerson Fittipaldi (McLaren-Ford) - 30
4. Niki Lauda (Ferrari) - 25
5. Clay Regazzoni (Ferrari) - 24
6. James Hunt (Hesketh-Ford) - 19
7. Denny Hulme (McLaren-Ford) - 19
8. Jean-Pierre Jarier (Shadow-Ford) - 14
9. Patrick Depailler (Tyrrell-Ford) - 12
10. Ronnie Peterson (Lotus-Ford) - 10
11. Arturo Merzario (Williams-Ford) - 7
12. Francois Migault (BRM) - 7
13. Howden Ganley (March-Ford) - 6
14. Mike Hailwood (McLaren-Ford) - 5
15. John Watson (NW Brabham-Ford) - 4
16. Carlos Reutemann (Lotus-Ford) - 4
17. Gijs van Lennep (Williams-Ford) - 3
18. Vittorio Brambilla (March-Ford) - 3
19. Dave Charlton (McLaren-Ford) - 2
20. Henri Pescarolo (BRM) - 2
21. Vern Schuppan (Ensign-Ford) - 2
22. Carlos Pace (Brabham-Ford) - 2
23. Jochen Mass (Surtees-Ford) - 1
24. Graham Hill (Lola-Ford) - 1
25. Ian Ashley (Token-Ford) - 1
1974 International Cup for F1 Constructors
1. Ferrari - 45
2. McLaren-Ford - 42
3. Tyrrell-Ford - 41
4. Brabham-Ford - 32
5. Hesketh-Ford - 19
6. Shadow-Ford - 14
7. Lotus-Ford - 13
8. Williams-Ford - 10
9. March-Ford - 9
10. BRM - 9
11. Brabham-Alfa Romeo - 4
12. Ensign-Ford - 2
13. Surtees-Ford - 1
14. Lola-Ford - 1
15. Token-Ford - 1
Re: The racing career of Ettore Visconti (1973-...)
1974 Grober Preis von Osterreich
Pre-Race
Ettore Visconti's success with the new Alfa meant that the Brabham team would be assigned an Alfa engine once again to Visconti in final round at Watkins Glen. Alfa's interest in the US Grand Prix was the possibility of Visconti winning the championship, which could be achievable as things stood.
Practice
Visconti's change back to the DFV was a bit of a shock with the slightly less powerful and heavier engine providing uncomfortable oversteer on corner entry. The difficult practice session ended early when the car jammed in 5th gear, making it completely undrivable.
"I was trying to do things that were possible in the Alfa. It was too difficult to get the Ford into the corner, too heavy, it was really ripping my arms off. It was nerve racking, it was downheartening for me. I could not drive it, I did not know how. And I over compensate with it, I change gear too fast, not enough clutch and bang."
His pace was just about good enough to land him 11th. Jody Scheckter was having an equally strenous after losing the large lead he had gained over his opposition, failing to score in the previous 2 Grand Prix and now struggling to set a competitive lap. Ian Scheckter was debuting for the first time in 1974 at the Austrian Grand Prix for Hesketh, and was an impressive 9th only 2 places behind his brother Jody, while Hunt was the quickest in front of the 2 Ferrari's and Pace in the Brabham. Also debuting was Austrian Helmut Koinigg, a popular driver in Austria and Germany after winning the Formula Vee title the year before. He was renting an ex-works Brabham BT44 from Scuderia Finotto and commendably placed 22nd.
1. James Hunt (Hesketh-Ford) - 1:34.853
2. Niki Lauda (Ferrari) - +0.509
3. Clay Regazzoni (Ferrari) - +0.841
4. Carlos Pace (Brabham-Ford) - +0.876
5. Emerson Fittipaldi (McLaren-Ford) - +0.894
6. Ronnie Peterson (Lotus-Ford) - +1.190
7. Jody Scheckter (Tyrrell-Ford) - +1.421
8. Denny Hulme (McLaren-Ford) - +1.920
9. Ian Scheckter (Hesketh-Ford) - +1.972
10. Carlos Reutemann (Lotus-Ford) - +2.000
11. Ettore Visconti (Brabham-Ford) - +2.091
17. John Watson (NW Brabham-Ford) - +3.261
22. Helmut Koinigg (NW Brabham-Ford) - +3.984
Qualifying
Some adjustments to the wing settings and the top gear left Ettore feeling much better within the car. On his first lap he managed a time of 1:36.4 placing him in the top 4 positions before spinning again on the following lap. Coming into the pit, Visconti stuck a fresh set of softs on and flew out of the pits onto a flying lap which improved his personal best time by 5 tenths to set a 1:35.935, an excellent lap which put him on pole position for the first time in his career.
"Gearbox replaced and change to wings. It felt good. The feeling is amazing. Nothing more to say."
Emerson Fittipaldi in the gave Visconti a true fight though, as the Brazilian lapped in a 1:35.943 and only 0.006 off of the Brabham. Ferrari were nowhere to be seen, and Niki Lauda could only manage 7th at his home race. Other Austrian's Helmut Koinigg and Dieter Quester (in a Surtees) both qualified, with Quester 17th and 20th Koinigg. Ian Scheckter also surprisingly qualfied ahead of James Hunt after a stunning lap.
1. Ettore Visconti (Brabham-Ford) - 1:35.935
2. Emerson Fittipaldi (McLaren-Ford) - +0.006
3. Jody Scheckter (Tyrrell-Ford) - +0.360
4. Clay Regazzoni (Ferrari) - +0.401
5. Ian Scheckter (Hesketh-Ford) - +0.630
6. Carlos Pace (Brabham-Ford) - +0.644
7. Niki Lauda (Ferrari) - +0.838
8. Vittorio Brambilla (March-Ford) - +1.035
9. Ronnie Peterson (Lotus-Ford) - +1.118
10. James Hunt (Hesketh-Ford) - +1.139
20. Helmut Koinigg (NW Brabham-Ford) - +3.230
24. John Watson (NW Brabham-Ford) - +4.036
Race
Emerson Fittipaldi flew off the grid while Visconti did just enough to squeeze off Clay Regazzoni and Carlos Pace on the inside line. Niki Lauda and Jody Scheckter proceeded past the slowly moving away Brabham and the order was Emmo, Lauda, J.Scheckter and Visconti rounding out the top 4. Visconti's inconsistency kicked in once again and lap 5 of 16 he spun off into the grass at the Chicane. This dropped him to 7th, and then again down to 10th following another spin 2 laps later. Fittipaldi had grown into an uncatchable leader, ahead by 15 seconds until a mistake cost him dearly and Scheckter and Lauda moved past him. By this point, some of the leaders had begun to fall by the wayside with Regazzoni from 4th retiring with a suspension failure on lap 10, then followed his team mate Lauda from the lead of the race on lap 13. This allowed Scheckter to pull away from Fittipaldi, while Emmo fought off a hard charging Ronnie Peterson. With the retirement of Ian Scheckter and Denny Hulme 3 laps from the end, Visconti had made his way back up into 5th which, unfortunately for Jody Scheckter who collided with a John Watson's spinning Brabham forcing him to pit for a new wing on the final lap, became 4th place. Fittipaldi was gifted the lead, and Peterson and Hunt would take the final podium positions. Jacky Ickx took the first points for the Lotus 76 with a strong 5th, followed by a surprised David Hobbs in a one-off appearance in a works-McLaren.
"There was suspension damage. Off the line, I moved across the track and then into turn 1 Clay (Regazzoni), he touched my rear wheel. Difficult for handling and I had spins. I was best on track, I deserved the victory. Jody (Scheckter) or Niki (Lauda) even deserved it. Emmo (Fittipaldi)? No."
1974 Grober Preis von Osterreich Race Results
1. Emerson Fittipaldi (McLaren-Ford) - 16 laps
2. Ronnie Peterson (Lotus-Ford) - +0:01.461
3. James Hunt (Hesketh-Ford) - +0:06.024
4. Ettore Visconti (Brabham-Ford) - +0:33.639
5. Jacky Ickx (Lotus-Ford) - +0:44.756
6. David Hobbs (McLaren-Ford) - +0:49.468
7. Derek Bell (Surtees-Ford) - +0:52.983
8. Jean-Pierre Jabouille (Surtees-Ford) - +0:56.812
9. Dieter Quester (Surtees-Ford) - +0:58.934
10. Carlos Pace (Brabham-Ford) - +1:00.548
12. Helmut Koinigg (NW Brabham-Ford) - +1:09.324
13. John Watson (NW Brabham-Ford) - Accident +1lap
1974 World Championship for Drivers
1. Emerson Fittipaldi (McLaren-Ford) - 39
2. Ettore Visconti (Brabham-Ford) - 38
3. Jody Scheckter (Tyrrell-Ford) - 37
4. Niki Lauda (Ferrari) - 25
5. Clay Regazzoni (Ferrari) - 24
6. James Hunt (Hesketh-Ford) - 23
7. Denny Hulme (McLaren-Ford) - 19
8. Ronnie Peterson (Lotus-Ford) - 16
9. Jean-Pierre Jarier (Shadow-Ford) - 14
10. Patrick Depailler (Tyrrell-Ford) - 12
11. Arturo Merzario (Williams-Ford) - 7
12. Francois Migault (BRM) - 7
13. Howden Ganley (March-Ford) - 6
14. Mike Hailwood (McLaren-Ford) - 5
15. John Watson (NW Brabham-Ford) - 4
16. Carlos Reutemann (Lotus-Ford) - 4
17. Gijs van Lennep (Williams-Ford) - 3
18. Vittorio Brambilla (March-Ford) - 3
19. Dave Charlton (McLaren-Ford) - 2
20. Henri Pescarolo (BRM) - 2
21. Vern Schuppan (Ensign-Ford) - 2
22. Carlos Pace (Brabham-Ford) - 2
23. Jacky Ickx (Lotus-Ford) - 2
24. Jochen Mass (Surtees-Ford) - 1
25. Graham Hill (Lola-Ford) - 1
26. Ian Ashley (Token-Ford) - 1
27. David Hobbs (McLaren-Ford) - 1
1974 International Cup for F1 Constructors
1. McLaren-Ford - 51 (53)
2. Ferrari - 45
3. Tyrrell-Ford - 41
4. Brabham-Ford - 35
5. Hesketh-Ford - 23
6. Lotus-Ford - 19
7. Shadow-Ford - 14
8. Williams-Ford - 10
9. March-Ford - 9
10. BRM - 9
11. Brabham-Alfa Romeo - 4
12. Ensign-Ford - 2
13. Surtees-Ford - 1
14. Lola-Ford - 1
15. Token-Ford - 1
One hell of a close battle for the drivers championship, with 3 drivers seperated only by 2 points and another 2 or 3 drivers with the potential to take out the prize.
Brother of Formula 1 driver to enter South African Formula 1 Championship
The brother of F1 star Ettore Visconti will be debuting in Formula 1 next January when he enters a self-run Brabham BT33 in the South African F1 Series. Home to big names such as Ian Scheckter, Dave Charlton and Eddie Keizan, the championship will welcome Riccardo Visconti, the 30 year old Italian-heir to the massive Visconti Cushions stockpile.
Visconti, who currently competes in the Italian Formula 3 championship which his younger brother won 5 years ago, has seen some varied success and is currently 7th in the championship with 3rd place finishes at Imola and Casale. Earlier this season, Visconti tasted his first time on track with single seaters in the Tasman Series where he surprisingly finished 6th after scoring 19 points across the season which included a victory in Adelaide.
Pre-Race
Ettore Visconti's success with the new Alfa meant that the Brabham team would be assigned an Alfa engine once again to Visconti in final round at Watkins Glen. Alfa's interest in the US Grand Prix was the possibility of Visconti winning the championship, which could be achievable as things stood.
Practice
Visconti's change back to the DFV was a bit of a shock with the slightly less powerful and heavier engine providing uncomfortable oversteer on corner entry. The difficult practice session ended early when the car jammed in 5th gear, making it completely undrivable.
"I was trying to do things that were possible in the Alfa. It was too difficult to get the Ford into the corner, too heavy, it was really ripping my arms off. It was nerve racking, it was downheartening for me. I could not drive it, I did not know how. And I over compensate with it, I change gear too fast, not enough clutch and bang."
His pace was just about good enough to land him 11th. Jody Scheckter was having an equally strenous after losing the large lead he had gained over his opposition, failing to score in the previous 2 Grand Prix and now struggling to set a competitive lap. Ian Scheckter was debuting for the first time in 1974 at the Austrian Grand Prix for Hesketh, and was an impressive 9th only 2 places behind his brother Jody, while Hunt was the quickest in front of the 2 Ferrari's and Pace in the Brabham. Also debuting was Austrian Helmut Koinigg, a popular driver in Austria and Germany after winning the Formula Vee title the year before. He was renting an ex-works Brabham BT44 from Scuderia Finotto and commendably placed 22nd.
1. James Hunt (Hesketh-Ford) - 1:34.853
2. Niki Lauda (Ferrari) - +0.509
3. Clay Regazzoni (Ferrari) - +0.841
4. Carlos Pace (Brabham-Ford) - +0.876
5. Emerson Fittipaldi (McLaren-Ford) - +0.894
6. Ronnie Peterson (Lotus-Ford) - +1.190
7. Jody Scheckter (Tyrrell-Ford) - +1.421
8. Denny Hulme (McLaren-Ford) - +1.920
9. Ian Scheckter (Hesketh-Ford) - +1.972
10. Carlos Reutemann (Lotus-Ford) - +2.000
11. Ettore Visconti (Brabham-Ford) - +2.091
17. John Watson (NW Brabham-Ford) - +3.261
22. Helmut Koinigg (NW Brabham-Ford) - +3.984
Qualifying
Some adjustments to the wing settings and the top gear left Ettore feeling much better within the car. On his first lap he managed a time of 1:36.4 placing him in the top 4 positions before spinning again on the following lap. Coming into the pit, Visconti stuck a fresh set of softs on and flew out of the pits onto a flying lap which improved his personal best time by 5 tenths to set a 1:35.935, an excellent lap which put him on pole position for the first time in his career.
"Gearbox replaced and change to wings. It felt good. The feeling is amazing. Nothing more to say."
Emerson Fittipaldi in the gave Visconti a true fight though, as the Brazilian lapped in a 1:35.943 and only 0.006 off of the Brabham. Ferrari were nowhere to be seen, and Niki Lauda could only manage 7th at his home race. Other Austrian's Helmut Koinigg and Dieter Quester (in a Surtees) both qualified, with Quester 17th and 20th Koinigg. Ian Scheckter also surprisingly qualfied ahead of James Hunt after a stunning lap.
1. Ettore Visconti (Brabham-Ford) - 1:35.935
2. Emerson Fittipaldi (McLaren-Ford) - +0.006
3. Jody Scheckter (Tyrrell-Ford) - +0.360
4. Clay Regazzoni (Ferrari) - +0.401
5. Ian Scheckter (Hesketh-Ford) - +0.630
6. Carlos Pace (Brabham-Ford) - +0.644
7. Niki Lauda (Ferrari) - +0.838
8. Vittorio Brambilla (March-Ford) - +1.035
9. Ronnie Peterson (Lotus-Ford) - +1.118
10. James Hunt (Hesketh-Ford) - +1.139
20. Helmut Koinigg (NW Brabham-Ford) - +3.230
24. John Watson (NW Brabham-Ford) - +4.036
Race
Emerson Fittipaldi flew off the grid while Visconti did just enough to squeeze off Clay Regazzoni and Carlos Pace on the inside line. Niki Lauda and Jody Scheckter proceeded past the slowly moving away Brabham and the order was Emmo, Lauda, J.Scheckter and Visconti rounding out the top 4. Visconti's inconsistency kicked in once again and lap 5 of 16 he spun off into the grass at the Chicane. This dropped him to 7th, and then again down to 10th following another spin 2 laps later. Fittipaldi had grown into an uncatchable leader, ahead by 15 seconds until a mistake cost him dearly and Scheckter and Lauda moved past him. By this point, some of the leaders had begun to fall by the wayside with Regazzoni from 4th retiring with a suspension failure on lap 10, then followed his team mate Lauda from the lead of the race on lap 13. This allowed Scheckter to pull away from Fittipaldi, while Emmo fought off a hard charging Ronnie Peterson. With the retirement of Ian Scheckter and Denny Hulme 3 laps from the end, Visconti had made his way back up into 5th which, unfortunately for Jody Scheckter who collided with a John Watson's spinning Brabham forcing him to pit for a new wing on the final lap, became 4th place. Fittipaldi was gifted the lead, and Peterson and Hunt would take the final podium positions. Jacky Ickx took the first points for the Lotus 76 with a strong 5th, followed by a surprised David Hobbs in a one-off appearance in a works-McLaren.
"There was suspension damage. Off the line, I moved across the track and then into turn 1 Clay (Regazzoni), he touched my rear wheel. Difficult for handling and I had spins. I was best on track, I deserved the victory. Jody (Scheckter) or Niki (Lauda) even deserved it. Emmo (Fittipaldi)? No."
1974 Grober Preis von Osterreich Race Results
1. Emerson Fittipaldi (McLaren-Ford) - 16 laps
2. Ronnie Peterson (Lotus-Ford) - +0:01.461
3. James Hunt (Hesketh-Ford) - +0:06.024
4. Ettore Visconti (Brabham-Ford) - +0:33.639
5. Jacky Ickx (Lotus-Ford) - +0:44.756
6. David Hobbs (McLaren-Ford) - +0:49.468
7. Derek Bell (Surtees-Ford) - +0:52.983
8. Jean-Pierre Jabouille (Surtees-Ford) - +0:56.812
9. Dieter Quester (Surtees-Ford) - +0:58.934
10. Carlos Pace (Brabham-Ford) - +1:00.548
12. Helmut Koinigg (NW Brabham-Ford) - +1:09.324
13. John Watson (NW Brabham-Ford) - Accident +1lap
1974 World Championship for Drivers
1. Emerson Fittipaldi (McLaren-Ford) - 39
2. Ettore Visconti (Brabham-Ford) - 38
3. Jody Scheckter (Tyrrell-Ford) - 37
4. Niki Lauda (Ferrari) - 25
5. Clay Regazzoni (Ferrari) - 24
6. James Hunt (Hesketh-Ford) - 23
7. Denny Hulme (McLaren-Ford) - 19
8. Ronnie Peterson (Lotus-Ford) - 16
9. Jean-Pierre Jarier (Shadow-Ford) - 14
10. Patrick Depailler (Tyrrell-Ford) - 12
11. Arturo Merzario (Williams-Ford) - 7
12. Francois Migault (BRM) - 7
13. Howden Ganley (March-Ford) - 6
14. Mike Hailwood (McLaren-Ford) - 5
15. John Watson (NW Brabham-Ford) - 4
16. Carlos Reutemann (Lotus-Ford) - 4
17. Gijs van Lennep (Williams-Ford) - 3
18. Vittorio Brambilla (March-Ford) - 3
19. Dave Charlton (McLaren-Ford) - 2
20. Henri Pescarolo (BRM) - 2
21. Vern Schuppan (Ensign-Ford) - 2
22. Carlos Pace (Brabham-Ford) - 2
23. Jacky Ickx (Lotus-Ford) - 2
24. Jochen Mass (Surtees-Ford) - 1
25. Graham Hill (Lola-Ford) - 1
26. Ian Ashley (Token-Ford) - 1
27. David Hobbs (McLaren-Ford) - 1
1974 International Cup for F1 Constructors
1. McLaren-Ford - 51 (53)
2. Ferrari - 45
3. Tyrrell-Ford - 41
4. Brabham-Ford - 35
5. Hesketh-Ford - 23
6. Lotus-Ford - 19
7. Shadow-Ford - 14
8. Williams-Ford - 10
9. March-Ford - 9
10. BRM - 9
11. Brabham-Alfa Romeo - 4
12. Ensign-Ford - 2
13. Surtees-Ford - 1
14. Lola-Ford - 1
15. Token-Ford - 1
One hell of a close battle for the drivers championship, with 3 drivers seperated only by 2 points and another 2 or 3 drivers with the potential to take out the prize.
Brother of Formula 1 driver to enter South African Formula 1 Championship
The brother of F1 star Ettore Visconti will be debuting in Formula 1 next January when he enters a self-run Brabham BT33 in the South African F1 Series. Home to big names such as Ian Scheckter, Dave Charlton and Eddie Keizan, the championship will welcome Riccardo Visconti, the 30 year old Italian-heir to the massive Visconti Cushions stockpile.
Visconti, who currently competes in the Italian Formula 3 championship which his younger brother won 5 years ago, has seen some varied success and is currently 7th in the championship with 3rd place finishes at Imola and Casale. Earlier this season, Visconti tasted his first time on track with single seaters in the Tasman Series where he surprisingly finished 6th after scoring 19 points across the season which included a victory in Adelaide.
Re: The racing career of Ettore Visconti (1973-...)
This series is really gripping.
Mexicola wrote:shinji wrote:Mexicola wrote: I'd rather listen to a dog lick its balls. Each to their own, I guess.
Does listening to a dog licking its balls get you excited?
That's between me and my internet service provider.
One of those journalist types.
270 Tube stations in 18:42:50!
Re: The racing career of Ettore Visconti (1973-...)
1974 Gran Premio d'Italia
Pre-Race
Heading into the final 3 rounds, the title race was heading to an immense end. Ettore Visconti was proving himself as one of the most formidable drivers on the track but lacking the consistency to have taken a dominant hold over the championship. Scheckter briefly took hold of a commanding lead, yet his young and dangerous racing style lead him to miss out of points in the past 3 races following off of 3 race wins in a row.
Brabham would be entering an Alfa Romeo engine for the Italian Grand Prix and there would be much hope placed on the engine to lead Visconti, who had so far scored points in all of the past four races including a 2nd and two 3rds, as well as 2 wins and a 4th earlier in the year. Alongside Brabham, Alfa Romeo had agreed to supply Scuderia Finotto with a flat-12 engine for Carlo Facetti who were running a year old Brabham BT42.
Visconti would hope to repeat and improve on his debut home Grand Prix, in which he impressed to score a brilliant 5th place.
Practice
Visconti had struggles throughout the session. An imbalance in the rear end of the chassis caused by a set up issue meant that he could barely set a complete lap without a spin and led to a slow time leaving him 12th. For Alfa Romeo, it posed a serious problem and bined with the fact that Carlos Pace in the Cosworth powered works BT44 had set the 2nd fastest time it appeared a poor advert for the Italians. Hunt was blisteringly quick and was fastest in practice, something he had managed in 4 previous practice sessions.
Among the championship contenders, Niki Lauda and Clay Regazzoni in the Ferrari's were 3rd and 5th while championship leader Emerson Fittipaldi was 6th and Jody Scheckter's Tyrrell 8th.
1. James Hunt (Hesketh-Ford) - 1:40.315
2. Carlos Pace (Brabham-Ford) - +0.730
3. Niki Lauda (Ferrari) - +0.900
4. Ronnie Peterson (Lotus-Ford) - +1.258
5. Clay Regazzoni (Ferrari) - +1.801
6. Emerson Fittipaldi (McLaren-Ford) +2.046
7. Vittorio Brambilla (March-Ford) - +2.049
8. Jody Scheckter (Tyrrell-Ford) - +2.098
9. Carlos Reutemann (Lotus-Ford) - +2.110
10. Patrick Depailler (Tyrrell-Ford) - +2.520
12. Ettore Visconti (Brabham-Alfa Romeo) - +2.727
19. John Watson (NW Brabham-Ford) - +3.751
22. Carlo Facetti (NW Brabham-Alfa Romeo) - +4.175
Qualifying
(.XML file problem, no times!)
The crowd screamed and cheered early into the session. Both Lauda and Regazzoni were placed 1st and 2nd within the first 10 minutes, with Lauda firmly ahead of his Swiss team mate. Yet, the Tifosi party was swiftly spoiled. James Hunt, Ronnie Peterson and Carlos Pace set their sights on getting ahead of the Ferrari's and did manage to finish ahead of Regazzoni, however only one man was able to finish the job. Visconti flew across the line and deposed the Ferrari off the pole with an unmatchable time. Being an Italian with an Italian engine though, the crowd would happily accept Ettore over Scheckter or Fittipaldi.
"I have won two races. I have scored four more podiums. I had a pole position in Austria. None of those matter, only this special, special pole here in front of the greatest fans in the world. I love it."
1. Ettore Visconti (Brabham-Alfa Romeo)
2. Niki Lauda (Ferrari)
3. Carlos Pace (Brabham-Ford)
4. Ronnie Peterson (Lotus-Ford)
5. James Hunt (Hesketh-Ford)
6. Clay Regazzoni (Ferrari)
7. Hans Stuck (March-Ford)
8. Jody Scheckter (Tyrrell-Ford)
9. Vittorio Brambilla (March-Ford)
10. Emerson Fittipaldi (McLaren-Ford)
15. Carlo Facetti (NW Brabham-Alfa Romeo)
18. John Watson (NW Brabham-Ford)
Race
The Ferrari adorned crowd descended to Monza early on the Sunday morning, hoping Lauda on the front row could pip the other crowd favourite, Ettore Visconti, to the finish. Visconti was visibly nervous on the grid and it proved as the green flag dropped. Lauda squeezed ahead of him off the line and was followed by fast moving Carlos Pace. Into the first chicane though, Visconti just managed to outbreak the pair and retake the lead. Pace spun from 3rd into the second chicane and backed the car into the armco, costing him a rear wing and an excellent result. James Hunt was up to 4th yet that would last until lap 2 when his gearbox seized up sending him out of the race. Visconti began to take a controlling lead and had pulled away by 3 seconds on lap 2. However, heartbreak struck heading into the first chicane when a plume of white fumes spewed out the back of the Alfa Romeo engine. Visconti's rear axel locked and sent him off into the gravel trap. Sat in his car for another couple of minutes, uncontrollably disheartened. Getting out of the car, tears in his eyes, he gave a brief wave to the crowd before disappearing over the barrier and returning back to the Brabham garage.
Meanwhile, out front positions remained almost the same excluding a couple of retirements from cars further down the order apart from Hans Stuck who had collided with the rear wing of lapped driver, Jose Dolhem, forcing him out of a strong 5th place in the March and down a lap having to repair his front wing.
Amongst all the chaos of the opening laps, Ferrari had moved into 1st and 2nd, with Lauda leading Regazzoni with a huge gap back to 3rd placed Emerson Fittipaldi and Tyrrell'ss Jody Scheckter and Patrick Depailler with Vittorio Brambilla completing the top 6. Yet, much like it happened to Visconti, heartbreak struck for Ferrari when Niki Lauda suffered the same fate as Ettore had, with his engine exploding and sending him out of 1st on lap 6 of 12. By Lap 7, the front 5 looked fairly familiar with Regazzoni leading from Fittipaldi, Scheckter, Depailler and Jean-Pierre Jarier however the shock entrant into the points was the non-works Brabham of Carlo Facetti. Unfortunately though, history often repeats itself. And on lap 10, Facetti was left by the wayside much like his Italian compatriot Ettore Visconti with a broken Alfa Romeo engine. Soul crushing.
Following that, another surprise in Leo Kinnunen took over 6th until he spun into the wall ripping off his front wing. Then the next driver to assume 6th place, Ronnie Peterson, would have an engine failure on the final lap! John Watson inherited the position and 6th would finally be decided.
1974 Gran Premio d'Italia Race Results
1. Clay Regazzoni (Ferrari) - 12 laps
2. Emerson Fittipaldi (McLaren-Ford) - +0:10.579
3. Jody Scheckter (Tyrrell-Ford) - +0:24.530
4. Patrick Depailler (Tyrrell-Ford) - +0:57.619
5. Jean-Pierre Jarier (Shadow-Ford) - +1:17.948
6. John Watson (NW Brabham-Ford) - +1:49.070
7. Ronnie Peterson (Lotus-Ford) - Engine +1 Laps
8. Tom Pryce (Shadow-Ford) - +1 Laps
9. Carlos Pace (Brabham-Ford) - +1 Laps
10. Denny Hulme (McLaren-Ford) - +1 Laps
NC. Carlo Facetti (NW Brabham-Alfa Romeo) - Engine +2 Laps
NC. Ettore Visconti (Brabham-Alfa Romeo) - Engine +10 Laps
1974 World Championship for Drivers
1. Emerson Fittipaldi (McLaren-Ford) - 45
2. Jody Scheckter (Tyrrell-Ford) - 41
3. Ettore Visconti (Brabham-Ford) - 38
4. Clay Regazzoni (Ferrari) - 33
5. Niki Lauda (Ferrari) - 25
6. James Hunt (Hesketh-Ford) - 23
7. Denny Hulme (McLaren-Ford) - 19
8. Ronnie Peterson (Lotus-Ford) - 16
9. Jean-Pierre Jarier (Shadow-Ford) - 16
10. Patrick Depailler (Tyrrell-Ford) - 15
11. Arturo Merzario (Williams-Ford) - 7
12. Francois Migault (BRM) - 7
13. Howden Ganley (March-Ford) - 6
14. Mike Hailwood (McLaren-Ford) - 5
15. John Watson (NW Brabham-Ford) - 5
16. Carlos Reutemann (Lotus-Ford) - 4
17. Gijs van Lennep (Williams-Ford) - 3
18. Vittorio Brambilla (March-Ford) - 3
19. Dave Charlton (McLaren-Ford) - 2
20. Henri Pescarolo (BRM) - 2
21. Vern Schuppan (Ensign-Ford) - 2
22. Carlos Pace (Brabham-Ford) - 2
23. Jacky Ickx (Lotus-Ford) - 2
24. Jochen Mass (Surtees-Ford) - 1
25. Graham Hill (Lola-Ford) - 1
26. Ian Ashley (Token-Ford) - 1
27. David Hobbs (McLaren-Ford) - 1
1974 International Cup for F1 Constructors
1. McLaren-Ford - 57 (59)
2. Ferrari - 54
3. Tyrrell-Ford - 45
4. Brabham-Ford - 36
5. Hesketh-Ford - 23
6. Lotus-Ford - 19
7. Shadow-Ford - 16
8. Williams-Ford - 10
9. March-Ford - 9
10. BRM - 9
11. Brabham-Alfa Romeo - 4
12. Ensign-Ford - 2
13. Surtees-Ford - 1
14. Lola-Ford - 1
15. Token-Ford - 1
Pre-Race
Heading into the final 3 rounds, the title race was heading to an immense end. Ettore Visconti was proving himself as one of the most formidable drivers on the track but lacking the consistency to have taken a dominant hold over the championship. Scheckter briefly took hold of a commanding lead, yet his young and dangerous racing style lead him to miss out of points in the past 3 races following off of 3 race wins in a row.
Brabham would be entering an Alfa Romeo engine for the Italian Grand Prix and there would be much hope placed on the engine to lead Visconti, who had so far scored points in all of the past four races including a 2nd and two 3rds, as well as 2 wins and a 4th earlier in the year. Alongside Brabham, Alfa Romeo had agreed to supply Scuderia Finotto with a flat-12 engine for Carlo Facetti who were running a year old Brabham BT42.
Visconti would hope to repeat and improve on his debut home Grand Prix, in which he impressed to score a brilliant 5th place.
Practice
Visconti had struggles throughout the session. An imbalance in the rear end of the chassis caused by a set up issue meant that he could barely set a complete lap without a spin and led to a slow time leaving him 12th. For Alfa Romeo, it posed a serious problem and bined with the fact that Carlos Pace in the Cosworth powered works BT44 had set the 2nd fastest time it appeared a poor advert for the Italians. Hunt was blisteringly quick and was fastest in practice, something he had managed in 4 previous practice sessions.
Among the championship contenders, Niki Lauda and Clay Regazzoni in the Ferrari's were 3rd and 5th while championship leader Emerson Fittipaldi was 6th and Jody Scheckter's Tyrrell 8th.
1. James Hunt (Hesketh-Ford) - 1:40.315
2. Carlos Pace (Brabham-Ford) - +0.730
3. Niki Lauda (Ferrari) - +0.900
4. Ronnie Peterson (Lotus-Ford) - +1.258
5. Clay Regazzoni (Ferrari) - +1.801
6. Emerson Fittipaldi (McLaren-Ford) +2.046
7. Vittorio Brambilla (March-Ford) - +2.049
8. Jody Scheckter (Tyrrell-Ford) - +2.098
9. Carlos Reutemann (Lotus-Ford) - +2.110
10. Patrick Depailler (Tyrrell-Ford) - +2.520
12. Ettore Visconti (Brabham-Alfa Romeo) - +2.727
19. John Watson (NW Brabham-Ford) - +3.751
22. Carlo Facetti (NW Brabham-Alfa Romeo) - +4.175
Qualifying
(.XML file problem, no times!)
The crowd screamed and cheered early into the session. Both Lauda and Regazzoni were placed 1st and 2nd within the first 10 minutes, with Lauda firmly ahead of his Swiss team mate. Yet, the Tifosi party was swiftly spoiled. James Hunt, Ronnie Peterson and Carlos Pace set their sights on getting ahead of the Ferrari's and did manage to finish ahead of Regazzoni, however only one man was able to finish the job. Visconti flew across the line and deposed the Ferrari off the pole with an unmatchable time. Being an Italian with an Italian engine though, the crowd would happily accept Ettore over Scheckter or Fittipaldi.
"I have won two races. I have scored four more podiums. I had a pole position in Austria. None of those matter, only this special, special pole here in front of the greatest fans in the world. I love it."
1. Ettore Visconti (Brabham-Alfa Romeo)
2. Niki Lauda (Ferrari)
3. Carlos Pace (Brabham-Ford)
4. Ronnie Peterson (Lotus-Ford)
5. James Hunt (Hesketh-Ford)
6. Clay Regazzoni (Ferrari)
7. Hans Stuck (March-Ford)
8. Jody Scheckter (Tyrrell-Ford)
9. Vittorio Brambilla (March-Ford)
10. Emerson Fittipaldi (McLaren-Ford)
15. Carlo Facetti (NW Brabham-Alfa Romeo)
18. John Watson (NW Brabham-Ford)
Race
The Ferrari adorned crowd descended to Monza early on the Sunday morning, hoping Lauda on the front row could pip the other crowd favourite, Ettore Visconti, to the finish. Visconti was visibly nervous on the grid and it proved as the green flag dropped. Lauda squeezed ahead of him off the line and was followed by fast moving Carlos Pace. Into the first chicane though, Visconti just managed to outbreak the pair and retake the lead. Pace spun from 3rd into the second chicane and backed the car into the armco, costing him a rear wing and an excellent result. James Hunt was up to 4th yet that would last until lap 2 when his gearbox seized up sending him out of the race. Visconti began to take a controlling lead and had pulled away by 3 seconds on lap 2. However, heartbreak struck heading into the first chicane when a plume of white fumes spewed out the back of the Alfa Romeo engine. Visconti's rear axel locked and sent him off into the gravel trap. Sat in his car for another couple of minutes, uncontrollably disheartened. Getting out of the car, tears in his eyes, he gave a brief wave to the crowd before disappearing over the barrier and returning back to the Brabham garage.
Meanwhile, out front positions remained almost the same excluding a couple of retirements from cars further down the order apart from Hans Stuck who had collided with the rear wing of lapped driver, Jose Dolhem, forcing him out of a strong 5th place in the March and down a lap having to repair his front wing.
Amongst all the chaos of the opening laps, Ferrari had moved into 1st and 2nd, with Lauda leading Regazzoni with a huge gap back to 3rd placed Emerson Fittipaldi and Tyrrell'ss Jody Scheckter and Patrick Depailler with Vittorio Brambilla completing the top 6. Yet, much like it happened to Visconti, heartbreak struck for Ferrari when Niki Lauda suffered the same fate as Ettore had, with his engine exploding and sending him out of 1st on lap 6 of 12. By Lap 7, the front 5 looked fairly familiar with Regazzoni leading from Fittipaldi, Scheckter, Depailler and Jean-Pierre Jarier however the shock entrant into the points was the non-works Brabham of Carlo Facetti. Unfortunately though, history often repeats itself. And on lap 10, Facetti was left by the wayside much like his Italian compatriot Ettore Visconti with a broken Alfa Romeo engine. Soul crushing.
Following that, another surprise in Leo Kinnunen took over 6th until he spun into the wall ripping off his front wing. Then the next driver to assume 6th place, Ronnie Peterson, would have an engine failure on the final lap! John Watson inherited the position and 6th would finally be decided.
1974 Gran Premio d'Italia Race Results
1. Clay Regazzoni (Ferrari) - 12 laps
2. Emerson Fittipaldi (McLaren-Ford) - +0:10.579
3. Jody Scheckter (Tyrrell-Ford) - +0:24.530
4. Patrick Depailler (Tyrrell-Ford) - +0:57.619
5. Jean-Pierre Jarier (Shadow-Ford) - +1:17.948
6. John Watson (NW Brabham-Ford) - +1:49.070
7. Ronnie Peterson (Lotus-Ford) - Engine +1 Laps
8. Tom Pryce (Shadow-Ford) - +1 Laps
9. Carlos Pace (Brabham-Ford) - +1 Laps
10. Denny Hulme (McLaren-Ford) - +1 Laps
NC. Carlo Facetti (NW Brabham-Alfa Romeo) - Engine +2 Laps
NC. Ettore Visconti (Brabham-Alfa Romeo) - Engine +10 Laps
1974 World Championship for Drivers
1. Emerson Fittipaldi (McLaren-Ford) - 45
2. Jody Scheckter (Tyrrell-Ford) - 41
3. Ettore Visconti (Brabham-Ford) - 38
4. Clay Regazzoni (Ferrari) - 33
5. Niki Lauda (Ferrari) - 25
6. James Hunt (Hesketh-Ford) - 23
7. Denny Hulme (McLaren-Ford) - 19
8. Ronnie Peterson (Lotus-Ford) - 16
9. Jean-Pierre Jarier (Shadow-Ford) - 16
10. Patrick Depailler (Tyrrell-Ford) - 15
11. Arturo Merzario (Williams-Ford) - 7
12. Francois Migault (BRM) - 7
13. Howden Ganley (March-Ford) - 6
14. Mike Hailwood (McLaren-Ford) - 5
15. John Watson (NW Brabham-Ford) - 5
16. Carlos Reutemann (Lotus-Ford) - 4
17. Gijs van Lennep (Williams-Ford) - 3
18. Vittorio Brambilla (March-Ford) - 3
19. Dave Charlton (McLaren-Ford) - 2
20. Henri Pescarolo (BRM) - 2
21. Vern Schuppan (Ensign-Ford) - 2
22. Carlos Pace (Brabham-Ford) - 2
23. Jacky Ickx (Lotus-Ford) - 2
24. Jochen Mass (Surtees-Ford) - 1
25. Graham Hill (Lola-Ford) - 1
26. Ian Ashley (Token-Ford) - 1
27. David Hobbs (McLaren-Ford) - 1
1974 International Cup for F1 Constructors
1. McLaren-Ford - 57 (59)
2. Ferrari - 54
3. Tyrrell-Ford - 45
4. Brabham-Ford - 36
5. Hesketh-Ford - 23
6. Lotus-Ford - 19
7. Shadow-Ford - 16
8. Williams-Ford - 10
9. March-Ford - 9
10. BRM - 9
11. Brabham-Alfa Romeo - 4
12. Ensign-Ford - 2
13. Surtees-Ford - 1
14. Lola-Ford - 1
15. Token-Ford - 1
Re: The racing career of Ettore Visconti (1973-...)
1974 Grand Prix du Canada
Pre-Race
Following the heartbreaking result of Visconti at his home race, his hopes of securing the title in his first full season seemed to be easing farther and farther away from his grasp. Now 7 points down on the consistent Emerson Fittipaldi and 3 down on the fast but crash prone Jody Scheckter, it seemed a tough task. Clay Regazzoni looked even further out of the championship battle, being the lowest placed driver that could still win the championship-4th. Perhaps Niki Lauda could have had more of a chance, after having an equally traumatic Italian Grand Prix as Visconti having also retired from the lead, but a season struck with mechanical issues and driver mistakes left him 20 points adrift of Fittipaldi with only 18 points available.
Practice
Niki Lauda would rue his misfortunes of the season in Canada, when he once again set the fastest practice time by over 1 second from anyone else! Of the title hopefuls, Fittipaldi, Regazzoni and Scheckter were all near enough matching each other with Emmo 5th, Regazzoni 6th and Scheckter 7th. Visconti, however, was struggling to recover from Italy, posting a time slower than his team mate, Carlos Pace in 8th, and the privateer Brabham of John Watson in 15th. Only the Canadian Brabham of Eppie Wietzes set a time slower who was 24th with a time 5 seconds slower than Lauda. Only Arturo Merzario, Jacques Laffite, Jacky Ickx, Vittorio Brambilla and Rolf Stommelen embarassed themselves more the Eppie. Lotus seemed back on form of recent with the re-entrance of the 72E which placed Reutemann and Peterson 3rd and 4th. The Lotus 76 of Ickx still could not achieve any pace, languishing 7.212 seconds away from Lauda after having a gearbox failure on his 5th lap.
1. Niki Lauda (Ferrari) - 1:13.652
2. James Hunt (Hesketh-Ford) - +1.161
3. Carlos Reutemann (Lotus-Ford) - +1.292
4. Ronnie Peterson (Lotus-Ford) - +1.446
5. Emerson Fittipaldi (McLaren-Ford) - +1.700
6. Clay Regazzoni (Ferrari) - +1.878
7. Jody Scheckter (Tyrrell-Ford) - +2.334
8. Carlos Pace (Brabham-Ford) - +2.527
9. Hans Stuck (March-Ford) - +2.786
10. Patrick Depailler (Tyrrell-Ford) - +2.803
15. John Watson (NW Brabham-Ford) - +3.812
17. Ettore Visconti (Brabham-Ford) - +4.185
24. Eppie Wietzes (NW Brabham-Ford) - +4.880
and "The Golden WTF?" award:
29. Rolf Stommelen (Lola-Ford) - +13.217
Qualifying
The South Americans who had travelled up the continent to North America for the final two rounds cheered as Carlos Pace and Emerson Fittipaldi both set excellent lap times. Pace's Brabham nearly stole pole away from Hunt's Hesketh with a gap of only 8 hundredths separating them! Lauda, who was putting in every effort to get Ferrari the constructors title, was 3rd in front of Emmo. Other championship challenger, Regazzoni was nearby in 6th behind Peterson, however both Scheckter and Visconti were sincerely struggling to find any pace, in 11th and 15th respectively. Despite this, it was somewhat of an improvement for Visconti who had nearly broken into the 1:15's. It was not the result he was looking for however, with a large threat of being knocked out of the championship running if Fittipaldi scored 3 points or Scheckter achieved 2nd should he fail to finish in the top 6th.
1. James Hunt (Hesketh-Ford) - 1:13.732
2. Carlos Pace (Brabham-Ford) - +0.086
3. Niki Lauda (Ferrari) - +0.194
4. Emerson Fittipaldi (McLaren-Ford) - +0.233
5. Ronnie Peterson (Lotus-Ford) - +0.589
6. Clay Regazzoni (Ferrari) - +0.854
7. Denny Hulme (McLaren-Ford) - +1.131
8. Hans Stuck (March-Ford) - +1.267
9. JP Jarier (Shadow-Ford) - +1.286
10. Patrick Depailler (Tyrrell-Ford) - +1.369
13. John Watson (NW Brabham-Ford) - +2.236
15. Ettore Visconti (Brabham-Ford) - +2.301
18. Eppie Wietzes (NW Brabham-Ford) - +3.211
Race
Away from the grid, Carlos Pace launched ahead of James Hunt and advanced into the lead, while his team mate also took an incredible start-off the line, Visconti was already up from 15th to 12th by the 3rd corner! His opponents however also made good starts off the grid, with Fittipaldi remaining 4th and Regazzoni 5th. A huge error though by Clay left him facing the wrong way and down in 14th on the following helping Visconti up the order who was now in 7th place and climbing, reaching 4th only another lap later. Fittipaldi was also moving his way up through the field and was 2nd on lap 3. Scheckter himself was making impressive inroads also, and from 11th he had made it up to 4th place on lap 6. Pace eventually conceded the lead to Fittipaldi, who had moved into 2nd after passing Hunt then proceeding post the spinning Ferrari of Niki Lauda.
Fittipaldi looked set to secure the title, running 1st his nearest championship rival was Visconti who had managed to make it up into 2nd place, while Regazzoni was 6th and Scheckter had spun from 4th and dropped all the way down to 16th. A win would put him 13 clear of Scheckter, 10 clear of Visconti and 21 ahead of Regazzoni. It was the perfect race as far as Fittipaldi was concerned. All the way up until lap 12 when Visconti passed him for the lead. A minor set back, yet he would still hold a 4 point lead as it stood. Yet things proceeded to worsen, when an off track caper dropped him to 6th and even worse it meant he was behind Regazzoni who was now 3rd!
Visconti was now unmatchable, setting times good enough to have given him pole in qualifying and making no mistakes. Regazzoni was chasing Denny Hulme, a McLaren-both a team mate and good friend of Fittipaldi-for 2nd place, a driver Regazzoni would rather not have wanted in the way of him. Yet Hulme was severely struggling on tyres, with Regazzoni sending one down the inside of the final corner to take 2nd place away. The situation could be described as a disaster for Fittipaldi who, on the final lap, spun again and dropped from 5th down to 7th and out of the points. The scenario meant that Regazzoni was now firmly in the championship hunt and Visconti now led the championship over Fittipaldi by 2 points.
This meant the title would be decided in a thrilling finalee at Watkins Glen, with 4 drivers separated by just 8 points.
1974 Grand Prix du Canada Race Results
1. Ettore Visconti (Brabham-Ford) - 17 laps
2. Clay Regazzoni (Ferrari) - +20.301
3. Denny Hulme (McLaren-Ford) - +22.465
4. Patrick Depailler (Tyrrell-Ford) - +45.906
5. Vittorio Brambilla (March-Ford) - +55.907
6. Carlos Pace (Brabham-Ford) - +57.515
7. Ettore Visconti (McLaren-Ford) - +1:01.739
8. John Watson (NW Brabham-Ford) - +1:34.608
9. Mario Andretti (Parnelli-Ford) - +1 Laps
10. Mike Wilds (Ensign-Ford) - +1 Laps
NC. Eppie Wietzes (NW Brabham-Ford) - Brakes +16 Laps
1974 World Championship for Drivers
1. Ettore Visconti (Brabham-Ford) - 47
2. Emerson Fittipaldi (McLaren-Ford) - 45
3. Jody Scheckter (Tyrrell-Ford) - 41
4. Clay Regazzoni (Ferrari) - 39
5. Niki Lauda (Ferrari) - 25
6. James Hunt (Hesketh-Ford) - 23
7. Denny Hulme (McLaren-Ford) - 23
8. Patrick Depailler (Tyrrell-Ford) - 18
9. Jean-Pierre Jarier (Shadow-Ford) - 16
10. Ronnie Peterson (Lotus-Ford) - 16
11. Arturo Merzario (Williams-Ford) - 7
12. Francois Migault (BRM) - 7
13. Howden Ganley (March-Ford) - 6
14. Mike Hailwood (McLaren-Ford) - 5
15. John Watson (NW Brabham-Ford) - 5
16. Vittorio Brambilla (March-Ford) - 5
17. Carlos Reutemann (Lotus-Ford) - 4
18. Gijs van Lennep (Williams-Ford) - 3
19. Carlos Pace (Brabham-Ford) - 3
20. Dave Charlton (McLaren-Ford) - 2
21. Henri Pescarolo (BRM) - 2
22. Vern Schuppan (Ensign-Ford) - 2
23. Jacky Ickx (Lotus-Ford) - 2
24. Jochen Mass (Surtees-Ford) - 1
25. Graham Hill (Lola-Ford) - 1
26. Ian Ashley (Token-Ford) - 1
27. David Hobbs (McLaren-Ford) - 1
1974 International Cup for F1 Constructors
1. McLaren-Ford - 61 (63)
2. Ferrari - 60
3. Tyrrell-Ford - 48
4. Brabham-Ford - 45
5. Hesketh-Ford - 23
6. Lotus-Ford - 19
7. Shadow-Ford - 16
8. March-Ford - 11
9. Williams-Ford - 10
10. BRM - 9
11. Brabham-Alfa Romeo - 4
12. Ensign-Ford - 2
13. Surtees-Ford - 1
14. Lola-Ford - 1
15. Token-Ford - 1
Pre-Race
Following the heartbreaking result of Visconti at his home race, his hopes of securing the title in his first full season seemed to be easing farther and farther away from his grasp. Now 7 points down on the consistent Emerson Fittipaldi and 3 down on the fast but crash prone Jody Scheckter, it seemed a tough task. Clay Regazzoni looked even further out of the championship battle, being the lowest placed driver that could still win the championship-4th. Perhaps Niki Lauda could have had more of a chance, after having an equally traumatic Italian Grand Prix as Visconti having also retired from the lead, but a season struck with mechanical issues and driver mistakes left him 20 points adrift of Fittipaldi with only 18 points available.
Practice
Niki Lauda would rue his misfortunes of the season in Canada, when he once again set the fastest practice time by over 1 second from anyone else! Of the title hopefuls, Fittipaldi, Regazzoni and Scheckter were all near enough matching each other with Emmo 5th, Regazzoni 6th and Scheckter 7th. Visconti, however, was struggling to recover from Italy, posting a time slower than his team mate, Carlos Pace in 8th, and the privateer Brabham of John Watson in 15th. Only the Canadian Brabham of Eppie Wietzes set a time slower who was 24th with a time 5 seconds slower than Lauda. Only Arturo Merzario, Jacques Laffite, Jacky Ickx, Vittorio Brambilla and Rolf Stommelen embarassed themselves more the Eppie. Lotus seemed back on form of recent with the re-entrance of the 72E which placed Reutemann and Peterson 3rd and 4th. The Lotus 76 of Ickx still could not achieve any pace, languishing 7.212 seconds away from Lauda after having a gearbox failure on his 5th lap.
1. Niki Lauda (Ferrari) - 1:13.652
2. James Hunt (Hesketh-Ford) - +1.161
3. Carlos Reutemann (Lotus-Ford) - +1.292
4. Ronnie Peterson (Lotus-Ford) - +1.446
5. Emerson Fittipaldi (McLaren-Ford) - +1.700
6. Clay Regazzoni (Ferrari) - +1.878
7. Jody Scheckter (Tyrrell-Ford) - +2.334
8. Carlos Pace (Brabham-Ford) - +2.527
9. Hans Stuck (March-Ford) - +2.786
10. Patrick Depailler (Tyrrell-Ford) - +2.803
15. John Watson (NW Brabham-Ford) - +3.812
17. Ettore Visconti (Brabham-Ford) - +4.185
24. Eppie Wietzes (NW Brabham-Ford) - +4.880
and "The Golden WTF?" award:
29. Rolf Stommelen (Lola-Ford) - +13.217
Qualifying
The South Americans who had travelled up the continent to North America for the final two rounds cheered as Carlos Pace and Emerson Fittipaldi both set excellent lap times. Pace's Brabham nearly stole pole away from Hunt's Hesketh with a gap of only 8 hundredths separating them! Lauda, who was putting in every effort to get Ferrari the constructors title, was 3rd in front of Emmo. Other championship challenger, Regazzoni was nearby in 6th behind Peterson, however both Scheckter and Visconti were sincerely struggling to find any pace, in 11th and 15th respectively. Despite this, it was somewhat of an improvement for Visconti who had nearly broken into the 1:15's. It was not the result he was looking for however, with a large threat of being knocked out of the championship running if Fittipaldi scored 3 points or Scheckter achieved 2nd should he fail to finish in the top 6th.
1. James Hunt (Hesketh-Ford) - 1:13.732
2. Carlos Pace (Brabham-Ford) - +0.086
3. Niki Lauda (Ferrari) - +0.194
4. Emerson Fittipaldi (McLaren-Ford) - +0.233
5. Ronnie Peterson (Lotus-Ford) - +0.589
6. Clay Regazzoni (Ferrari) - +0.854
7. Denny Hulme (McLaren-Ford) - +1.131
8. Hans Stuck (March-Ford) - +1.267
9. JP Jarier (Shadow-Ford) - +1.286
10. Patrick Depailler (Tyrrell-Ford) - +1.369
13. John Watson (NW Brabham-Ford) - +2.236
15. Ettore Visconti (Brabham-Ford) - +2.301
18. Eppie Wietzes (NW Brabham-Ford) - +3.211
Race
Away from the grid, Carlos Pace launched ahead of James Hunt and advanced into the lead, while his team mate also took an incredible start-off the line, Visconti was already up from 15th to 12th by the 3rd corner! His opponents however also made good starts off the grid, with Fittipaldi remaining 4th and Regazzoni 5th. A huge error though by Clay left him facing the wrong way and down in 14th on the following helping Visconti up the order who was now in 7th place and climbing, reaching 4th only another lap later. Fittipaldi was also moving his way up through the field and was 2nd on lap 3. Scheckter himself was making impressive inroads also, and from 11th he had made it up to 4th place on lap 6. Pace eventually conceded the lead to Fittipaldi, who had moved into 2nd after passing Hunt then proceeding post the spinning Ferrari of Niki Lauda.
Fittipaldi looked set to secure the title, running 1st his nearest championship rival was Visconti who had managed to make it up into 2nd place, while Regazzoni was 6th and Scheckter had spun from 4th and dropped all the way down to 16th. A win would put him 13 clear of Scheckter, 10 clear of Visconti and 21 ahead of Regazzoni. It was the perfect race as far as Fittipaldi was concerned. All the way up until lap 12 when Visconti passed him for the lead. A minor set back, yet he would still hold a 4 point lead as it stood. Yet things proceeded to worsen, when an off track caper dropped him to 6th and even worse it meant he was behind Regazzoni who was now 3rd!
Visconti was now unmatchable, setting times good enough to have given him pole in qualifying and making no mistakes. Regazzoni was chasing Denny Hulme, a McLaren-both a team mate and good friend of Fittipaldi-for 2nd place, a driver Regazzoni would rather not have wanted in the way of him. Yet Hulme was severely struggling on tyres, with Regazzoni sending one down the inside of the final corner to take 2nd place away. The situation could be described as a disaster for Fittipaldi who, on the final lap, spun again and dropped from 5th down to 7th and out of the points. The scenario meant that Regazzoni was now firmly in the championship hunt and Visconti now led the championship over Fittipaldi by 2 points.
This meant the title would be decided in a thrilling finalee at Watkins Glen, with 4 drivers separated by just 8 points.
1974 Grand Prix du Canada Race Results
1. Ettore Visconti (Brabham-Ford) - 17 laps
2. Clay Regazzoni (Ferrari) - +20.301
3. Denny Hulme (McLaren-Ford) - +22.465
4. Patrick Depailler (Tyrrell-Ford) - +45.906
5. Vittorio Brambilla (March-Ford) - +55.907
6. Carlos Pace (Brabham-Ford) - +57.515
7. Ettore Visconti (McLaren-Ford) - +1:01.739
8. John Watson (NW Brabham-Ford) - +1:34.608
9. Mario Andretti (Parnelli-Ford) - +1 Laps
10. Mike Wilds (Ensign-Ford) - +1 Laps
NC. Eppie Wietzes (NW Brabham-Ford) - Brakes +16 Laps
1974 World Championship for Drivers
1. Ettore Visconti (Brabham-Ford) - 47
2. Emerson Fittipaldi (McLaren-Ford) - 45
3. Jody Scheckter (Tyrrell-Ford) - 41
4. Clay Regazzoni (Ferrari) - 39
5. Niki Lauda (Ferrari) - 25
6. James Hunt (Hesketh-Ford) - 23
7. Denny Hulme (McLaren-Ford) - 23
8. Patrick Depailler (Tyrrell-Ford) - 18
9. Jean-Pierre Jarier (Shadow-Ford) - 16
10. Ronnie Peterson (Lotus-Ford) - 16
11. Arturo Merzario (Williams-Ford) - 7
12. Francois Migault (BRM) - 7
13. Howden Ganley (March-Ford) - 6
14. Mike Hailwood (McLaren-Ford) - 5
15. John Watson (NW Brabham-Ford) - 5
16. Vittorio Brambilla (March-Ford) - 5
17. Carlos Reutemann (Lotus-Ford) - 4
18. Gijs van Lennep (Williams-Ford) - 3
19. Carlos Pace (Brabham-Ford) - 3
20. Dave Charlton (McLaren-Ford) - 2
21. Henri Pescarolo (BRM) - 2
22. Vern Schuppan (Ensign-Ford) - 2
23. Jacky Ickx (Lotus-Ford) - 2
24. Jochen Mass (Surtees-Ford) - 1
25. Graham Hill (Lola-Ford) - 1
26. Ian Ashley (Token-Ford) - 1
27. David Hobbs (McLaren-Ford) - 1
1974 International Cup for F1 Constructors
1. McLaren-Ford - 61 (63)
2. Ferrari - 60
3. Tyrrell-Ford - 48
4. Brabham-Ford - 45
5. Hesketh-Ford - 23
6. Lotus-Ford - 19
7. Shadow-Ford - 16
8. March-Ford - 11
9. Williams-Ford - 10
10. BRM - 9
11. Brabham-Alfa Romeo - 4
12. Ensign-Ford - 2
13. Surtees-Ford - 1
14. Lola-Ford - 1
15. Token-Ford - 1
Re: The racing career of Ettore Visconti (1973-...)
1974 United States Grand Prix - Part 1
Pre-Race
With one of the closest championship battles heading into the final round, any number of possibilities could happen. 1972 champion Emerson Fittipaldi could win his second championship if he manages to outscore crowd favourite and rookie Ettore Visconti in the Brabham-Alfa Romeo. Visconti meanwhile could win the championship in his first full season. More impressively, he would do it despite missing out on the Monaco and Swedish Grand Prix, while Switzerlands ultra-focused Clay Regazzoni could take a much deserved first championship as well with an incredible run of performance in the past 4 races where he had score 2 wins and 1 second place, retiring from the front of the field in the other. He was certainly the outsider of the championship, with Scheckter only marginally ahead by 2 points. A commanding mid-season for Jody Scheckter where he won 3 races in a row was quickly destroyed when he failed to finish or score any points since his win in France, excluding his 3rd in Austria.
Visconti was highly vocal about his title challengers, heaping praise on them: "I thank God that it's Emmo, Clay and Jody. If the Rat (Niki Lauda) could have joined us, who deserves to be involved, the set would have been complete. As long as the parasitical likes of the pampered poodle (James Hunt) don't come near us, next year can be fantastic."
The only definitive result was that 3 drivers would be left heartbroken. But, which one would walk away from the Grand Prix in glee? The arrogant Italian, Ettore Visconti? The consistent and technically brilliant Brazilian, Emerson Fittipaldi? The stupidly aggressive but blisteringly quick South African, Jody Scheckter? Or Switzerland's intelligent and mechanically sympathetic Clay Regazzoni?
Practice
The championship leaders chose to not undertake the pressure and were absent from the top 3 positions of the timing sheets. The two outsiders in Scheckter and Regazzoni both managed to set relatively strong times, in 4th and 5th, while Carlos Pace showed outright pace in the Ford powered Brabham who were fighting with Tyrrell for the 3rd position in the constructors championship. The Alfa Romeo powered Brabham however was struggling incredibly. According to Visconti, the engine was too powerful in the lower gears meaning some corners had to be taken in a gear higher than it would have in a Ford engine, an awful compromise for the championship leader who sat in a dismal 19th. The only bright side to the story was that Fittipaldi was also nowhere near the top 6, in 9th and a whole 1.5 seconds from either Regazzoni or Scheckter.
1. Niki Lauda (Ferrari) - 1:40.188
2. James Hunt (Hesketh-Ford) - +0.340
3. Ronnie Peterson (Lotus-Ford) - +0.500
4. Jody Scheckter (Tyrrell-Ford) - +0.676
5. Clay Regazzoni (Ferrari) - +0.866
6. Carlos Reutemann (Lotus-Ford) - +1.444
7. Carlos Pace (Brabham-Ford) - +1.524
8. Denny Hulme (McLaren-Ford) - +2.151
9. Emerson Fittipaldi (McLaren-Ford) - +2.268
10. Vittorio Brambilla (March-Ford) - +2.414
19. Ettore Visconti (Brabham-Alfa Romeo) - +5.062
Qualifying
The first serious session of the weekend was swept by the Ferrari's. Niki Lauda and Regazzoni were unstoppable out front and would once again lock out a Ferrari front run for yet another time this season. To Regazzoni's displeasure, both Fittipaldi and Scheckter had also managed some decent pace and were 4th and 5th. The so-called "Parasite", James Hunt was the closest to breaking the Ferrari domination in 3rd place, with Carlos Reutemann the other car in the Top 6 with his Lotus. Ettore Visconti was still struggling for pace and sat down in an awful 13th place! As it stood, Emmo Fittipaldi would be the 1974 World Champion-what could Ettore do stop him in the race?
1. Clay Regazzoni (Ferrari) - 1:40.115
2. Niki Lauda (Ferrari) - +0.025
3. James Hunt (Hesketh-Ford) - +0.362
4. Emerson Fittipaldi (McLaren-Ford) - +0.975
5. Jody Scheckter (Tyrrell-Ford) - +1.399
6. Carlos Reutemann (Brabham-Ford) - +2.037
7. JP Jarier (Shadow-Ford) - +2.673
8. Tom Pryce (Shadow-Ford) - +3.044
9. Ronnie Peterson (Lotus-Ford) - +3.115
10. Carlos Pace (Brabham-Ford) - +3.389
13. Ettore Visconti (Brabham-Alfa Romeo) - +3.747
Race in the next post -->
Pre-Race
With one of the closest championship battles heading into the final round, any number of possibilities could happen. 1972 champion Emerson Fittipaldi could win his second championship if he manages to outscore crowd favourite and rookie Ettore Visconti in the Brabham-Alfa Romeo. Visconti meanwhile could win the championship in his first full season. More impressively, he would do it despite missing out on the Monaco and Swedish Grand Prix, while Switzerlands ultra-focused Clay Regazzoni could take a much deserved first championship as well with an incredible run of performance in the past 4 races where he had score 2 wins and 1 second place, retiring from the front of the field in the other. He was certainly the outsider of the championship, with Scheckter only marginally ahead by 2 points. A commanding mid-season for Jody Scheckter where he won 3 races in a row was quickly destroyed when he failed to finish or score any points since his win in France, excluding his 3rd in Austria.
Visconti was highly vocal about his title challengers, heaping praise on them: "I thank God that it's Emmo, Clay and Jody. If the Rat (Niki Lauda) could have joined us, who deserves to be involved, the set would have been complete. As long as the parasitical likes of the pampered poodle (James Hunt) don't come near us, next year can be fantastic."
The only definitive result was that 3 drivers would be left heartbroken. But, which one would walk away from the Grand Prix in glee? The arrogant Italian, Ettore Visconti? The consistent and technically brilliant Brazilian, Emerson Fittipaldi? The stupidly aggressive but blisteringly quick South African, Jody Scheckter? Or Switzerland's intelligent and mechanically sympathetic Clay Regazzoni?
Practice
The championship leaders chose to not undertake the pressure and were absent from the top 3 positions of the timing sheets. The two outsiders in Scheckter and Regazzoni both managed to set relatively strong times, in 4th and 5th, while Carlos Pace showed outright pace in the Ford powered Brabham who were fighting with Tyrrell for the 3rd position in the constructors championship. The Alfa Romeo powered Brabham however was struggling incredibly. According to Visconti, the engine was too powerful in the lower gears meaning some corners had to be taken in a gear higher than it would have in a Ford engine, an awful compromise for the championship leader who sat in a dismal 19th. The only bright side to the story was that Fittipaldi was also nowhere near the top 6, in 9th and a whole 1.5 seconds from either Regazzoni or Scheckter.
1. Niki Lauda (Ferrari) - 1:40.188
2. James Hunt (Hesketh-Ford) - +0.340
3. Ronnie Peterson (Lotus-Ford) - +0.500
4. Jody Scheckter (Tyrrell-Ford) - +0.676
5. Clay Regazzoni (Ferrari) - +0.866
6. Carlos Reutemann (Lotus-Ford) - +1.444
7. Carlos Pace (Brabham-Ford) - +1.524
8. Denny Hulme (McLaren-Ford) - +2.151
9. Emerson Fittipaldi (McLaren-Ford) - +2.268
10. Vittorio Brambilla (March-Ford) - +2.414
19. Ettore Visconti (Brabham-Alfa Romeo) - +5.062
Qualifying
The first serious session of the weekend was swept by the Ferrari's. Niki Lauda and Regazzoni were unstoppable out front and would once again lock out a Ferrari front run for yet another time this season. To Regazzoni's displeasure, both Fittipaldi and Scheckter had also managed some decent pace and were 4th and 5th. The so-called "Parasite", James Hunt was the closest to breaking the Ferrari domination in 3rd place, with Carlos Reutemann the other car in the Top 6 with his Lotus. Ettore Visconti was still struggling for pace and sat down in an awful 13th place! As it stood, Emmo Fittipaldi would be the 1974 World Champion-what could Ettore do stop him in the race?
1. Clay Regazzoni (Ferrari) - 1:40.115
2. Niki Lauda (Ferrari) - +0.025
3. James Hunt (Hesketh-Ford) - +0.362
4. Emerson Fittipaldi (McLaren-Ford) - +0.975
5. Jody Scheckter (Tyrrell-Ford) - +1.399
6. Carlos Reutemann (Brabham-Ford) - +2.037
7. JP Jarier (Shadow-Ford) - +2.673
8. Tom Pryce (Shadow-Ford) - +3.044
9. Ronnie Peterson (Lotus-Ford) - +3.115
10. Carlos Pace (Brabham-Ford) - +3.389
13. Ettore Visconti (Brabham-Alfa Romeo) - +3.747
Race in the next post -->
Last edited by Visconti on 08 Dec 2013, 18:16, edited 1 time in total.
Re: The racing career of Ettore Visconti (1973-...)
1974 United States Grand Prix - Part 2
Race
The hearts of the 4 championship hopefuls thumped against the outer walls of their rib cage. Ferrari, McLaren, Brabham, Tyrrell, all of the teams sat anxiously awaiting the drop of the green flag. With championship leader Ettore Visconti in 13th he would have to perform one hell of a drive to take out the title with Fittipaldi, Regazzoni and Scheckter all in threatening positions.
With the flag man walking out onto the grid, the four sets of eyes drifted over to the right hand side of the grid as the flag bearer prepared to rise the flag. Like a flame to a gun powder barrell, the moment the flag dropped a sudden explosion of petrol combusting into hot gasses launched the 26 starters from the grid away from their starting stalls. Although one explosion was heard more amongst the others. The deafening screach to an Italian flat-12 engine. Alfa Romeo's flat-12 engine. Ettore Visconti's flat-12 engine. Only 3 yards into the most important race of his career, his engine had detonated after a mishift. The 13th placed Brabham now rolled down the hill, plumes of oil billowing out of the back like smoked from a bombed war building, bringing tears to the eyes of onlookers. Visconti's heart in an instance shattered into millions of fragmented shards, cut away at the inside of him like the shattered gearbox to the internal components of his Brabham. His title hopes all but over.
And Jody Scheckter was to join him too. One lap later a hard charging Carlos Reutemann flew into the back of the South African, ripping the rear wing away from the South African and spinning him down the order into 18th. Another driver who's hopes fell away right before his eyes. His hopes completely swam away into the abyss when his engine clunked to a halt on the 7th of 18 laps. Yet another tragic US Grand Prix for Tyrrell.
To add to the tragedy, the excitement of the race was unfortunately spoiled when Helmut Koinigg lost control of his Surtees and collided with a loose guard rail. Something Jackie Stewart and the Grand Prix Drivers' Association had complained about repetitively throughout the year. It was farcical. Following the death of Francois Cevert in similar circumstances at the same track a year before, and the death of Peter Revson in similar fashion in Kyalami one would believe someone would do something about the problem.
Yet the focus still remained on the two remaining title challengers, Regazzoni who lead from Fittipaldi and Lauda, as the three streaked away from Pace who had fought his way up from 10th into 4th place with Jarier and Pryce following behind. The three took to swapping positions, with Regazzoni falling to 3rd at periods before swapping positions with Fittipaldi, then being replaced by Lauda. The battle was hectic. Other front runners fell to the wayside with all sorts of mechanical gremlins, and on lap 14 another Ferrari engine bit the dust. Ferrari's engineers shut slammed their eyes shut when they saw the Ferrari come to a halt, fearing the demise of Regazzoni's championship hopes. Yet it was Lauda. With that, Ferrari focused their eyes back on the enchanting battle. As it stood, with Regazzoni 1st and Fittipaldi 2nd, Regazzoni would loose out by a margin of just 3 points, while Ettore would miss out on a maiden championship by 4 points. And as it stood, no one was there to challenge the McLaren especially after the now-3rd placed Parnelli of Mario Andretti grenading with 2 laps remaining and catching on Fittipaldi in 2nd.
But then, it appeared a miracle befel Ferrari. Suddenly, from 2nd place, Fittipaldi's laptimes began to gradually drop off and then, all of a sudden, the car stopped moving altogether. The Ford was no more. And all on the final lap of the Grand Prix. Regazzoni crossed the line, hand raised firmly in the air as the Ferrari pit crew jumped around in the pit lane shouting and screaming with joy. Before it hit them. The only other car on the lead lap was Carlos Pace. Fittipaldi had therefore finished 3rd. Fittipaldi had therefore scored 49 points. Fittipaldi had therefore beaten Regazzoni to the championship by 1 point!
Emerson Fittipaldi of Brazil, and of McLaren, was the Drivers World Champion! The still-present Ettore Visconti, willing with all his might that he could still win the championship, pressed his head deeply into his hands knowing full well it was his fault-2 points the difference between the championship and him. The joyful Ferrari mechanics were left dumbfounded by the result. Regazzoni had disappeared somewhere into the padock. It was incredible, tragic and emotional. Ferrari could at least take home 5 Grand Prix wins and the International Trophy for F1 Constructors, yet it just didn't mean the same to them as the drivers championship had.
1974 United States Grand Prix Race Results
1. Clay Regazzoni (Ferrari) - 18 Laps
2. Carlos Pace (Brabham-Ford) - +1:39.404
3. Emerson Fittipaldi (McLaren-Ford) - +1 Laps (Engine)
4. Vittorio Brambilla (March-Ford) - +1 Laps
5. John Watson (Surtees-Ford) - +1 Laps
6. Mario Andretti (VPJ-Ford) - +2 Laps (Engine)
7. JP Jarier (Shadow-Ford) - +2 Laps
8. Tom Pryce (Shadow-Ford) - +2 Laps
9. Graham Hill (Hill-Ford) - +2 Laps
10. Ian Ashley (Token-Ford) - +2 Laps
19. Jody Scheckter (Tyrrell-Ford) - +11 Laps (Engine)
26. Ettore Visconti (Brabham-Alfa Romeo) - +18 Laps (Engine)
1974 World Championship for Drivers
1. Emerson Fittipaldi (McLaren-Ford) - 49
2. Clay Regazzoni (Ferrari) - 48
3. Ettore Visconti (Brabham-Ford) - 47
4. Jody Scheckter (Tyrrell-Ford) - 41
5. Niki Lauda (Ferrari) - 25
6. James Hunt (Hesketh-Ford) - 23
7. Denny Hulme (McLaren-Ford) - 23
8. Patrick Depailler (Tyrrell-Ford) - 18
9. Jean-Pierre Jarier (Shadow-Ford) - 16
10. Ronnie Peterson (Lotus-Ford) - 16
11. Carlos Pace (Brabham-Ford) - 9
12. Vittorio Brambilla (March-Ford) - 8
13. Arturo Merzario (Williams-Ford) - 7
14. Francois Migault (BRM) - 7
15. John Watson (NW Brabham-Ford) - 7
16. Howden Ganley (March-Ford) - 6
17. Mike Hailwood (McLaren-Ford) - 5
18. Carlos Reutemann (Lotus-Ford) - 4
19. Gijs van Lennep (Williams-Ford) - 3
20. Dave Charlton (McLaren-Ford) - 2
21. Henri Pescarolo (BRM) - 2
22. Vern Schuppan (Ensign-Ford) - 2
23. Jacky Ickx (Lotus-Ford) - 2
24. Jochen Mass (Surtees-Ford) - 1
25. Graham Hill (Lola-Ford) - 1
26. Ian Ashley (Token-Ford) - 1
27. David Hobbs (McLaren-Ford) - 1
28. Mario Andretti (VPJ-Ford) - 1
1974 International Cup for F1 Constructors
1. Ferrari - 69
2. McLaren-Ford - 65 (67)
3. Brabham-Ford - 51
4. Tyrrell-Ford - 48
5. Hesketh-Ford - 23
6. Lotus-Ford - 19
7. Shadow-Ford - 16
8. March-Ford - 14
9. Williams-Ford - 10
10. BRM - 9
11. Brabham-Alfa Romeo - 4
12. Surtees-Ford - 3
13. Ensign-Ford - 2
14. Lola-Ford - 1
15. Token-Ford - 1
16. VPJ-Ford - 1
Race
The hearts of the 4 championship hopefuls thumped against the outer walls of their rib cage. Ferrari, McLaren, Brabham, Tyrrell, all of the teams sat anxiously awaiting the drop of the green flag. With championship leader Ettore Visconti in 13th he would have to perform one hell of a drive to take out the title with Fittipaldi, Regazzoni and Scheckter all in threatening positions.
With the flag man walking out onto the grid, the four sets of eyes drifted over to the right hand side of the grid as the flag bearer prepared to rise the flag. Like a flame to a gun powder barrell, the moment the flag dropped a sudden explosion of petrol combusting into hot gasses launched the 26 starters from the grid away from their starting stalls. Although one explosion was heard more amongst the others. The deafening screach to an Italian flat-12 engine. Alfa Romeo's flat-12 engine. Ettore Visconti's flat-12 engine. Only 3 yards into the most important race of his career, his engine had detonated after a mishift. The 13th placed Brabham now rolled down the hill, plumes of oil billowing out of the back like smoked from a bombed war building, bringing tears to the eyes of onlookers. Visconti's heart in an instance shattered into millions of fragmented shards, cut away at the inside of him like the shattered gearbox to the internal components of his Brabham. His title hopes all but over.
And Jody Scheckter was to join him too. One lap later a hard charging Carlos Reutemann flew into the back of the South African, ripping the rear wing away from the South African and spinning him down the order into 18th. Another driver who's hopes fell away right before his eyes. His hopes completely swam away into the abyss when his engine clunked to a halt on the 7th of 18 laps. Yet another tragic US Grand Prix for Tyrrell.
To add to the tragedy, the excitement of the race was unfortunately spoiled when Helmut Koinigg lost control of his Surtees and collided with a loose guard rail. Something Jackie Stewart and the Grand Prix Drivers' Association had complained about repetitively throughout the year. It was farcical. Following the death of Francois Cevert in similar circumstances at the same track a year before, and the death of Peter Revson in similar fashion in Kyalami one would believe someone would do something about the problem.
Yet the focus still remained on the two remaining title challengers, Regazzoni who lead from Fittipaldi and Lauda, as the three streaked away from Pace who had fought his way up from 10th into 4th place with Jarier and Pryce following behind. The three took to swapping positions, with Regazzoni falling to 3rd at periods before swapping positions with Fittipaldi, then being replaced by Lauda. The battle was hectic. Other front runners fell to the wayside with all sorts of mechanical gremlins, and on lap 14 another Ferrari engine bit the dust. Ferrari's engineers shut slammed their eyes shut when they saw the Ferrari come to a halt, fearing the demise of Regazzoni's championship hopes. Yet it was Lauda. With that, Ferrari focused their eyes back on the enchanting battle. As it stood, with Regazzoni 1st and Fittipaldi 2nd, Regazzoni would loose out by a margin of just 3 points, while Ettore would miss out on a maiden championship by 4 points. And as it stood, no one was there to challenge the McLaren especially after the now-3rd placed Parnelli of Mario Andretti grenading with 2 laps remaining and catching on Fittipaldi in 2nd.
But then, it appeared a miracle befel Ferrari. Suddenly, from 2nd place, Fittipaldi's laptimes began to gradually drop off and then, all of a sudden, the car stopped moving altogether. The Ford was no more. And all on the final lap of the Grand Prix. Regazzoni crossed the line, hand raised firmly in the air as the Ferrari pit crew jumped around in the pit lane shouting and screaming with joy. Before it hit them. The only other car on the lead lap was Carlos Pace. Fittipaldi had therefore finished 3rd. Fittipaldi had therefore scored 49 points. Fittipaldi had therefore beaten Regazzoni to the championship by 1 point!
Emerson Fittipaldi of Brazil, and of McLaren, was the Drivers World Champion! The still-present Ettore Visconti, willing with all his might that he could still win the championship, pressed his head deeply into his hands knowing full well it was his fault-2 points the difference between the championship and him. The joyful Ferrari mechanics were left dumbfounded by the result. Regazzoni had disappeared somewhere into the padock. It was incredible, tragic and emotional. Ferrari could at least take home 5 Grand Prix wins and the International Trophy for F1 Constructors, yet it just didn't mean the same to them as the drivers championship had.
1974 United States Grand Prix Race Results
1. Clay Regazzoni (Ferrari) - 18 Laps
2. Carlos Pace (Brabham-Ford) - +1:39.404
3. Emerson Fittipaldi (McLaren-Ford) - +1 Laps (Engine)
4. Vittorio Brambilla (March-Ford) - +1 Laps
5. John Watson (Surtees-Ford) - +1 Laps
6. Mario Andretti (VPJ-Ford) - +2 Laps (Engine)
7. JP Jarier (Shadow-Ford) - +2 Laps
8. Tom Pryce (Shadow-Ford) - +2 Laps
9. Graham Hill (Hill-Ford) - +2 Laps
10. Ian Ashley (Token-Ford) - +2 Laps
19. Jody Scheckter (Tyrrell-Ford) - +11 Laps (Engine)
26. Ettore Visconti (Brabham-Alfa Romeo) - +18 Laps (Engine)
1974 World Championship for Drivers
1. Emerson Fittipaldi (McLaren-Ford) - 49
2. Clay Regazzoni (Ferrari) - 48
3. Ettore Visconti (Brabham-Ford) - 47
4. Jody Scheckter (Tyrrell-Ford) - 41
5. Niki Lauda (Ferrari) - 25
6. James Hunt (Hesketh-Ford) - 23
7. Denny Hulme (McLaren-Ford) - 23
8. Patrick Depailler (Tyrrell-Ford) - 18
9. Jean-Pierre Jarier (Shadow-Ford) - 16
10. Ronnie Peterson (Lotus-Ford) - 16
11. Carlos Pace (Brabham-Ford) - 9
12. Vittorio Brambilla (March-Ford) - 8
13. Arturo Merzario (Williams-Ford) - 7
14. Francois Migault (BRM) - 7
15. John Watson (NW Brabham-Ford) - 7
16. Howden Ganley (March-Ford) - 6
17. Mike Hailwood (McLaren-Ford) - 5
18. Carlos Reutemann (Lotus-Ford) - 4
19. Gijs van Lennep (Williams-Ford) - 3
20. Dave Charlton (McLaren-Ford) - 2
21. Henri Pescarolo (BRM) - 2
22. Vern Schuppan (Ensign-Ford) - 2
23. Jacky Ickx (Lotus-Ford) - 2
24. Jochen Mass (Surtees-Ford) - 1
25. Graham Hill (Lola-Ford) - 1
26. Ian Ashley (Token-Ford) - 1
27. David Hobbs (McLaren-Ford) - 1
28. Mario Andretti (VPJ-Ford) - 1
1974 International Cup for F1 Constructors
1. Ferrari - 69
2. McLaren-Ford - 65 (67)
3. Brabham-Ford - 51
4. Tyrrell-Ford - 48
5. Hesketh-Ford - 23
6. Lotus-Ford - 19
7. Shadow-Ford - 16
8. March-Ford - 14
9. Williams-Ford - 10
10. BRM - 9
11. Brabham-Alfa Romeo - 4
12. Surtees-Ford - 3
13. Ensign-Ford - 2
14. Lola-Ford - 1
15. Token-Ford - 1
16. VPJ-Ford - 1