NEWS ROUNDUP - Before the Brazilian Grand PrixA weekbefore the race, the
auction of the Arrows A1B chassis took place at Sotheby's in London. The winner of the auction was
Merzario, after Arturo's bid of all his money, his house, and his wife was enough to outclass Shadow's £750,000 offer. The cars should be ready for the next round, the
South African Grand Prix.Driver news now. Italian
Bruno Giacomelli will replace
James Hunt at
Wolf for the
Italian Grand Prix. Brazilian
Wilson Fittipaldi will be replacing
Emerson Fittipaldi at
Fittipaldi for this week's
Brazilian Grand Prix, which will be his last competitive outing. Also,
ATS/JLD Racing have announced that Austrian
Harald Ertl will drive at the
Austrian Grand Prix. The team have also made a move for Dutch driver
Jan Lammers who is currently contracted to
RAM, but a statement from RAM has not yet been heard.
Ferrari tested their turbo engine during practice for the
Brazilian Grand Prix. The engine, however, quite literally blew up down the main straight.
Rene Arnoux suffered singed leg hairs. Rumour has it that the engine will be ready for the
Spanish Grand Prix.
Lancia representatives have been spotted loitering in the paddock this weekend, often coming in and out of the
Merzario hospitality unit. Not put off by the fact it was a shed Arturo found early Friday Morning with 'Hospitality Unit' painted on it, rumour has it that Lancia would be willing to sponsor and supply Merzario with engines from the
Spanish Grand Prix onwards.
Jenkins have attracted the biggest crowds so far this weekend, after
sales of Jenkins
hats,
caps,
t-shirts,
jumpers and certain
Jenkins Industries VHS and
Betamax tapes went suprisingly well.
The future of the Brazilian Grand Prix is in doubt unless the track organisers reprofile and shorten the track. Complaints of the circuit being too long and incredibly bumpy have led to the race possibly being dropped from the calendar. The president of the FIA, Jean-Luc Knighte, has appealed for new events to be put forward for next year or an alternative venue for the race.
TESTINGThe first testing date will be after the South African Grand Prix. If you would like to test, please post the drivers that you would like to take part and the venue of the test.
Brazilian Grand Prix - InterlagosQualiQualifying saw Callum McAllister take the second pole of his career, while Ed Kevin lined up second. Alan Jones managed ot get the Lotus up to third on the grid, with Niki Lauda alongside him. A sterling performance from Brancatelli put the RAM sixth, ahead of Jabouille and Shcheckter. Rene Arnoux could only manage 15th place with his singed legs.
At the back of the grid, Gauthier and Andretti could only manage 25th and 26th in the ageing M28, while Surer ensured Rebaque's first start of the year alongside Wilson Fittipaldi, who qualified 30th and last for his last race. Both Shadows, both ATSes, Hector Rebaque, Danny Ongais and both Merzarios failed to qaulify. Merzario will be looking forward to that new chassis for Kyalami.
RaceAway from the line, McAllister made a great start to leap ahead in the lead, while Ed Kevin was bogged down and was swamped. Jones made a good start to be 2nd going into the first corner, while Brancatelli leaped to 3rd place. Minor contact was made between Fittipaldi and Jenkins into turn 3, damaging the Brazilians front wing. Jenkins appeared to be unscathed.
Across the line for the first time, McAllister led from Lauda, who was 2seconds back, from Jones, Villeneuve, Brancatelli, Kevin and Jabouille. Jenkin's car sounded like a cat and a rabbit being mangled in a trouser press as it crossed the line; Jenkins pulling the car to the side on the run up to turn 5, gearbox problems ending his day.
Lap 12, and with Piquet and Reutemann out of the race, McAllister still led from A.Jones, Scheckter, Villeneuve, Jabouille, Arnoux, Jones and Kevin.
Approaching the last corner of lap 12, Alan Jones launched his Lotus down the inside of the Williams, and went into the lead! Derek Barclay went into hysteria on the Lotus pitwall as Jones began to pull away from McAllister, who now found himself under pressure from Scheckter and Jabouille. However, the hysteria was short-lived as Alan Jones pullesd into the pit on lap 14 to retire the car with brake problems.
Lap 20, and McAllister had so far resisted the pressure of Scheckter, who was ahead of Villeneuve in 3rd and Harvey Jones in 4th. Arnoux was fifth, with Jabouille in sixth and Kevin 20seconds back. Lap 21, and Scheckter made a move on McAllister for the lead into turn 1, the two Williamses side by side down to turn 3, but Scheckterstaying firm and getting past McAllister.
Lap 25, and Scheckter now led by 6 seconds to McAllister, with Villeneuve in third and Harvey Jones in fourth. Aroux was 10 seconds behind Harvey, but had started churnign out fast laps and was catching at a rate of 1 second per lap.
On lap 27, Riccardo Patrese was closing on Roberto Horford in the Alfa down to turn 3. Under braking, the Arrows sharply snapped to the left, pitching Riccardo into the barriers.
The whole paddock gasped as Riccardo spun across a thankfully empty track and came to a halt on the other side of the track. Riccardo looked in pain as he attempted to climb form his recked A2. Patrese was taken to a local hospital, and the Arrows team were told that they would be notified of his condition after the race.
Lap 32, Scheckter now had a 17 second lead back to Villeneuve, who had found a way past McAllister. Jabouille and Kevin had dropped further back from the leading 5. Arnoux was no just 3 seconds behind Harvey jones.
Lap 34, and McAllister made an audacious move round the outside of Villeneuve around turn 1.
Lap 36, and Jan Lammers had managed to get his RAM up into 9th place. Arnoux found a way past Harvey jones, after the Englishman ran wide in Turn 10. Arnoux now set off after Villeneuve and McAllister 2 seconds up the road.
Lap 38, and Arnoux had caught Vileeneuve and McAllister. Making a move down the inside of Villeneuve for 3rd into turn 3, and clinging to McAllisters gearbox until popping out from the slipstream and down the inside into Turn 1.
Ed Kevin was running a strong 7th ahead of Jabouille, but the Ligier's engine let go in spectacular fashion, burning and spitting out lumps of metal down to turn 7.
Jody Scheckter crossed the line 21 seconds ahead of Rene Arnoux in the Ferrari, with McAllister in 3rd position. Harvey Jones finished ia brilliant fifth position, and Niki Lauda led a trouble-free race to bring the Brabham home 6th. Lammers will be dissapointing to just miss out on a point, and McLaren will also be dissapointed with 14th and 17th. Wilson Fittiapldi managed to finish his last grand prix, albeit dead last and a lap down.

So, a good win for Scheckter, who will be boosted going into his home event. The home crowd were dissapointed by a Piquet retirement and Wilson Fittipaldi chugging around at the back. Ferrari have looked strong all weekend, and Rebaque will be wanting to qualify again at Kyalami, but with Merzario runnign the A1B chassis, it will be a tall order.
Riccardo Patrese has unfortunately broken his left arm, and will be out until the Monaco Grand Prix. Arrows will need to name a replacement driver.