1979 AUSTRALIAN GRAND PRIXThe title could have been won by 3 men - but who would it be?
Qualifying
Qualifying was a tighter affair than usual, but unfotunately fo the teams at the back there were no surprises. Gilles Villeneuve took pole in the end for Ferrair, ahead of the two Williams, the two Ligiers, and the two Renaults, before Noah cried enough and went home, leaving Arnoux in 8th. Lammers extracted more than his team mate could from the car to line up 10th, ahead of Ghinzani, and both Merzarios. Harvey Jones will be diasspointed to start well down the order, as will Brabham, McLaren, and Tyrell - with Pironi starting 24th on his debut. At the back of the grid, Patrese and Prost start on the last row - while Depault, Fittipaldi, Sedlak, Bleekemolen, Giacomelli, and Ongais set for an early bath. Unfortunately this would be their last appearance at a competitive Formula One race, with the team pulling out of the sport as announced earlier. Giacomeeli will also be dissapointed to qualify so low down the order, this has probably meant that he will be without a drive next year.
Race - 71 LapsVilleneuve led away from the line, and was able to keep the lead into the first corner. He managed to keep the lead for a few laps until Scheckter finally found a way past at the hairpin. The Andretti/Takagi saga would not lie down to die, as on lap 2, Takagi hit a McLaren at the first corner. Guess who? Yes, that's right - Andretti's replacement, Derek Daly. Both were out on the spot.
Scheckter proceeded to pull away in the early laps, as McAllister passed Villeneuve and then proceeded to hold everyone up behind him. This allowed both Ligiers, both Renaults, Arnoux and Alan Jones to close on McAllister and Villeneuve. The 8 cars reeled in Scheckter, and swapped positions more times than I can remember over the next 14 laps or so, and at one point even Lammers in 10th was in with a shout of moving further up the field.
Lammers pulled over on Lap 10 with suspension failure, after dropping back a little. Villeneuve's engine went up in smoke on lap 13, dropping the 9 to 8. Reutemann hit the wall and damaged his rear wing, forcing him into the pits to change it, dropping him a lap down in the process. By lap 17 however the field had calmed down, and Scheckter found himself in the lead ahaead of McAllister, Laffite, Arnoux, Jabouille, and Harvey Jones. Drama was to unfold two laps later however, as Arnoux had slipped behind Jabouille and was under pressure from Alan Jones. Jones went around the outside of Arnoux at the hairpin, but Arnoux didn't give up - the pair went side by side into the following left hander. Jones was on the inside, and forced Arnoux on the outside into the wall, and retirement!! Unbeleivable stuff! Arnoux was clearly distraught as this meant that he would not win the title.
Laffite passed McAllister, and found himself in the lead a few laps later whn Scheckter's Honda packed up. He was on course for the title now, as main title rival Kevin was down in 6th place...
Jabouille's Renault also passed McAllister, and in the next 7 laps had closed right up to the back of Laffite. However, Laffite responded with some fastest laps, and the gap was back up to 6 seconds 4 laps later. Alan Jones' promising day ended from 5th position on lap 30 with brake failure. Pironi had worked his way up into the points on his debut as well, remarkable since he started 24th.
Laffite's day at the front wsn't confirmed yet, with Kevin still running and McAllister catching and eventually passing on lap 38. With McAllister now in the lead, Laffite had dropped a further 5 seconds back by lap 46, before chaos emerged on the back straight. Niki Lauda was running seventh, but his engine failed on the back straight, causing him to suddenly slow. Prost was following close behind, and , mis sighteed in the smoke, hit Lauda, which sent him spinning down the road, taking out Ed Kevin, in 6th, who was negotiating the hairpin at the time. Prost's impact caused Lauda to veer back across the straight, where he was hit by the lapped Rossler. Rossler speared into the outside right wall, before coming back across the track, where he was hit by Patrese who was trying to thread his way through the wreckage. Watson and Harvey Jones, who had also fallen a lap down, were also caught up in the crash, which took place over only a few seconds. Wreckage was strewn all over the track, and although most of the drivers managed to extract themselves from the car, Prost and Rossler required specialist medical attention. Prost was conscious and talking, but Rossler hadn't moved since the accident, where Patrese had hit him hard. The leaders were unable to get through the wreckage, with that and the injuries to Rossler bringing out the red flag.
McAllister was still in the lead so took a subdued victory, ahead of Laffite and Jabouille. The podium celebrations were notably muted. Ed Kevin was distraught to have lost the title at the last hurdle - he didn't return to the motorhome till it had gone dark. Pironi had managed to stay out to claim 4th, aheead of Brambilla, Bellof, Dlay and Brancatelli. Ligier wrapped up the constructors as well with Ferrari failing to score.
Prost was taken to hospital in an ambulance, and was confirmed to have suffered a broken lft arm and wrist. Patrese maanaged to limp away from his car, but he had sprained both ankles and fractured his left leg, the same leg that he broke in Brazil. Rossler however wa sin a much more serious condition, but he was alive, and was taken to Royal Adelaide Hospital where he was stabilised. Doctors later confirmed that he had broken several ribs, his right leg, and his right collar bone, along with suffering internal bleeding and whiplash. He awoke the next day, and upon hearing the result, he urged Laffite and Ligier to celebrate their titles.
Driver's Championship
Laffite wins the title with 2nd place, after Kevin and Laffite fail to finish. McAllister jumps to 4th and Bellof jumps Brancatelli.
1: Jacques Laffite - 69
2: Ed Kevin - 63
3: Rene Arnoux - 62
4: Callum McAllister - 48
5: Jody Scheckter - 44
6: Gilles Villeneuve - 40
7: Alan Jones - 36
8: Harvey Jones - 34
9: Carlos Reutemann - 34
10: Jean-Pierre Jabouille - 34
11: Jan Lammers - 27
12: Nelson Piquet - 24
13: Hiroshi Takagi - 17
14: Guilliame Gauthier - 16
15: Stefan Bellof - 15
16: Gianfranco Brancatelli - 14
17: John Watson - 10
18: Mario Andretti - 9
19: Niki Lauda - 8
20: James Hunt - 6
= Alain Prost - 6
= Derek Daly - 6
23: Keke Rosberg - 5
= Roberto Horford - 5
= Didier Pironi - 5
26: Andrea de Cesaris - 4
= Geoff Lees - 4
= Kieran Sutherland - 4
= Vittorio Brambilla - 4
30: Riccardo Patrese - 2
= Piercarlo Ghinzani - 2
= Padraig O'Connell - 2
= Bruno Giacomelli - 2
34: Thomas Nurmester - 1
= Davey Clarke - 1
= Simone Guidetti - 1
Constructor's Championship
Ligier wrap it up, Renault jump Williams and Lotus, while Shadow jump to 8th.
1: Ligier-Ford - 132
2: Ferrari - 102
3: Renault - 67
4: Lotus-Ford - 66
5: Williams-Ford - 62
6: Ram-Ferrari -35
7: Brabham-Ford - 32
8: Shadow-Ford - 28
9: McLaren-Ford - 31
10: Williams-Honda - 30
11: Tyrrell-Ford - 27
12: Alfa Romeo - 11
13: Arrows-Ford - 10
= Wolf-Ford - 10
15: RAM-Ford -5
= Merzario-Ford - 5
16: Rebaque-Ford - 4
I really hope you injoyed this year, it's been great for me and I hope you enjoyed it too. Please stick around for 1980: there will be a new thread, but first there will be race standings, roty nominations etc in this thread!
CONGRATULATIONS TO JACQUES LAFFITE AND LIGIER- 1979 WDC AND WCC!!
