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Of far less importance is the fact that four drivers are eliminated from the grid, these being Rebaque (Lotus 78), Ertl CATS), Bleekemolen CATS) and Gimax (Surtees). Sunday is a nice warm day but the crowds seem slow in filling the Autodromo, little interest being showed in Alfa-Sud and Renault 5 saloon-car racing. The Grand Prix is due to start at 3:30 p.m. and there is a 30-minute test-session in the morning. In case anyone has last minute trouble, Rebaque is out with them, as first reserve, but the ATS team packed up and gone home. All seems to be going well until Peterson has an accident at the second chicane and goes through the catch fences and crumples the front of his Lotus 79. The cause is said to be brake trouble, but Piquet who is behind him reckons there is plenty of smoke coming off locked-up tyres. There is nothing for it but to hurriedly race-prepare Lotus 78/3 for the Swede to use. Well before the starting time the cars begin to leave the pit road, some, like Villeneuve’s Ferrari and Andretti’s Lotus to the vociferous cheers of the crowds, others to loud clapping, and some in relative silence, apart from their own exhaust noise. As the rest of the cars assemble on the grid Reutemann and Peterson dive into the pits for minor aerodynamic adjustments and then go round again to take their places on the 24 car grid, lined up in pairs. A fraction before 3.30 Andretti and Villeneuve lead the field away on the pace-lap, the lotus running straight and true, while Villeneuve and others go down the back straight in a series of zig-zags to put cornering loads on the tyres and raise the temperature of the rubber. At the end of the pace lap Tambay peels off from his position on the tenth row and goes into the pits to have his gear-change mechanism looked at.
He is unaware how lucky this is going to be for him. As the black and gold Lotus and the red and white Ferrari stop at the starting-line the starter put the red light on, long before the rest of the field has got into their right places or the back half of the field has even arrived at the grid. Far too soon the green light comes on, Villeneuve makes a superb getaway, while Andretti is caught off balance and Lauda is alongside the Lotus as they get under way. Peterson makes a hesitant start in the Lotus 78 and is engulfed by those behind him, but the back of the field is catching up fast as they were on the move when the green light showed . As the middle of the pack surges into the short straight leading to the first chicane there is a puff of white smoke, as of a magnesium wheel is graundched, a McLaren seems to be out of control, then a sheet of flame and all hell breaks loose. While the leaders are round the back of the circuit the red flag is out on the start-finish line and the race stops. Villeneuve, Andretti, Lauda and others come slowly up the straight from the Curve Parabolica amid a sea of waving yellow flags and stop beyond the finishing line near the scene of the accident. From all accounts Patrese is on the righthand side of the pack trying to overtake Hunt, as they funnel into the road circuit, and the Arrows hit the McLaren, which bounces across the road into Peterson’s Lotus which in turn spins across the road, into the right-hand guardrail and is struck by Brambilla’s Surtees that is trying to avoid the melee down the righthand side. Also involved are Reutemann, Pironi, Regazzoni, Depailler, Daly, Stuck, and Lunger, who are all close behind, while Giacomelli, Merzario and Piquet scrape past. Hunt and Regazzoni dive into the flames of the burning Lotus 78 and haul the injured Peterson out, while the fire is soon under control by the fire-marshals.

Peterson is taken to the Milan hospital by helicopter with severely broken legs, and slight burns, while Brambilla is taken by ambulance suffering severe head injuries. Everyone returns to the pits somewhat shaken and it is announced that the race would be restart once the track is clear, and drivers are allowed to use spare cars where available. The grid is going to form up as before, with spaces left for any non-starters. One by one the wrecks are brought back to the paddock, the Lotus 78/3 totally destroyed, Hunt’s McLaren M26/5 with the front and rear wiped off, Brambilla’s Suttees TS20/01 with the front written off, Depailler’s Tyrrell 008/3-2 with the rear end demolished, Regazzoni’s Shadow DN9/4A-3 battered from all directions; Lunger’s McLaren M26/6 with the right front corner torn off, Daly’s Ensign MN07 with the back end written off, Pironi’s Tyrrell 008/1 also with the rear end smashed and Reutemann’s Ferrari (036) with an enormous tyre mark on its right side and generally knocked about. Stuck’s Shadow is wheeled back unharmed, but the lanky German has struck on the head by a flying wheel and is suffering from slight concussion and is advised not to attempt to take part in the restart. It is nearly 5 p.m. before all the mess is cleared up and the track is clean. Nineteen cars leave the pit lane to drive round the circuit to line up on the grid, ready for a restart at 5.15 p.m., but only 18 return. Going through the second part of the Lesmo corners at around 130 m.p.h. Scheckter finds his Wolf WR6 do not respond to the steering and he strikes the guard-rail on the left, an enormous blow and cannon across to the other side of the track with the left-side of the car totally demolished. He is unhurt and gets an ambulance to return him to the pits, where his team has got WR5 out on the grid ready for him.
As the rest of the field arrive on the grid some of the drivers, who saw the accident, got out of their cars and rushed across to race control to get the second start delayed as the Armco barriers are leaning over perilously where the Wolf has struck them. There is much confusion as to why there is another delay and officials and drivers go off to look at the damage and repairs are starting. Very little information is forthcoming and the crowds begin to whistle and shout, not knowing why there is another hold-up. Time is passing and the sun is going down and there is a feeling that the 49th Italian GP is not happening. At 5:50 p.m. it is announced that the race will take place and the distance will be shortened from 52 laps to 40 laps, in accordance with FIA regulations which allow a race to count for full Championship points and money if run more than three-quarters of the total distance. It was shortly after 6 p.m. when the 19 cars go off on their pace lap, led by Andretti and Villeneuve once more. They are lined up in original grid order, with a gap behind Jabouille’s Renault where the unfortunate Peterson should be; Scheckter is in Wolf WR5, with Reutemann behind him in Ferrari (035); in the next row there’s a gap where Pironi should be, as Depailler took the spare Tyrrell 008/5; Regazzoni is in the spare Shadow DN9/1A, Daly is in the spare Ensign MN06, with a gap alongside him where Stuck should be, and at the back on the left there’s gaps where Lunger and Brambilla should be. It was nearly 6:15 p.m. before the cars are lined up on the grid, this time the starter holding them until everyone is stationary and in place, and then waiting a long time before switching on the red light. On the front row Villeneuve and Andretti are getting distinctly twitchy and begin to creep forward. Long before the green light appears Villeneuve lets in his clutch and is gone, with Andretti in hot pursuit, while the rest of the field waits for the green light, which appears the moment the front pair is gone.
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Everyone except Fittipaldi gets away, the yellow Brazilian car being left behind with a seized clutch withdrawal mechanism. By the time Fittipaldi jerks away everyone is gone. The roar of the crowd tells who is first out of the Curva Parabolica, but the Lotus is alongside as the two cars cross the line to end lap 1. Side-by-side they go into the first chicane but the young French-Canadian sits it out with Andretti and holds the lead away into the second lap. In third place is Jabouille with the Renault, followed by Lauda, Reutemann, Jones, Patrese, Daly, Laffite, Scheckter, Watson, Tambay, Regazzoni, Giacomelli, Piquet, Depailler, Hunt, Merzario and Fittipaldi. Some of the drivers who are in their spare cars are not showing much enthusiasm for trying too hard, and who can blame them, and anyway it is a two-car race, as it was obvious since the end of practice. Villeneuve’s Ferrari continues to lead Andretti’s Lotus, much to the joy of the crowd, and it doesn’t look as though the Lotus driver could do much about it. They are pulling away upfront the Renault, which itself is pulling away from Lauda and the rest. At the end of four laps Regazzoni goes into the pits to have the brakes looked at on the spare Shadow, and on lap 6 the Renault drops out at the pits with a broken engine. After a very slow opening lap during which there seemed something odd about his car, John Watson gets going properly and moves rapidly up the field from his lowly eleventh place. At eight laps Andretti makes a pass at the leading Ferrari as they brake at the end of the back straight, but didn’t follow through and dead-lock seems to have set in, and if anything the Ferrari is pulling away. Already a long way behind, Lauda is holding third place after the demise of the Renault, but Reutemann is closing up on him.
Watson has got by Daly, Laffite, Patrese and Jones and now is in fifth place, leaving Jones, Patrese and Laffite to have a close battle for sixth place. Right at the back Fittipaldi is going great guns and climbing through the tail enders in a very spirited fashion. There is still only one second between the Ferrari and the lotus at the head of the field when it is announced that they both have got penalised one minute for jumping the start, so officially Lauda is leading the race! But nobody really cares, it is all too silly. The Ferrari team still gives Villeneuve pit signals telling him he is leading, yet they signal to Reutemann that he is second. Knowing that Andretti and Lauda are between himself and his young team-mate, the Argentinian justifiably thinks his pit staff is going mad. Andretti begins to feel trouble starting in his rear brakes and eases back quite a lot so that the leading Ferrari got more than five seconds ahead. Almost unnoticed Hunt drops out with a dead engine in his McLaren when the ignition distributor breaks, and Regazzoni rejoins the race, such as it was. Watson begins to dose on Reutemann with a view to taking fourth place on the road, but second on paper, while Alan Jones gives the best to Patrese and Laffite as his left front tyre begins to lose pressure through a leaky valve. Patrese’s joy do not last long, for the engine in the Golden Arrows brakes and then Jones stops for a tyre change, changing the left rear as well while he is in the pits. With ten laps to go the Ferraris begins to slow as their Michelin tyres fades sooner than the rival Goodyears, and as Villeneuve drops back into Andretti’s clutches, so Reutemann drops back into Watson’s Clutches. It’s just a matter of time before Andretti passes the leading Ferrari and in near dusk he completes the go laps to finish nearly three seconds ahead of Villeneuve in a race that most people is glad to see over. With their one-minute penalty the first two cars are relegated back to sixth and seventh overall, and Lauda is acclaimed the winner, but few people believe it or care anyway.

The enthusiasm of the public when it’s all over is almost non-existent, and the ones that stayed only want Villeneuve and Andretti to appear on the winner’s rostrum. The Italian crowd are not even enthusiastic about the victory of the Alfa Romeo engine, even if they realise it, and nobody notice that Brabhams had officially scored a 1-2 finish. Darkness falls before everything is cleared up, the news front the Milan Hospital is that Peterson has to have a foot operated on that evening, with a chance that he might lose it, and the Italian GP fizzles out into the darkness and gloom, a day best forgotten about.