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Two hundred laps of the track, 300.000 spectators, 1.000.000 dollars in prizes: this is the Indy 500, the most American of car races, in the city of Cole Porter and in the region of the great wars. Since 1911, for the day of the fallen, the Midwest basin has polarized the passions of a continent that has made a religion of the pioneering and technological spirit. The Indy 500 is the modern surrogate of the cowboy tournaments, a tribute to American history and progress. The first editions, in truth, had a flavor of adventure. In 1909, when the oval track was still under construction, a balloon race was held there, and the following year a motorcycle race. The dress rehearsal, in 1910, with the legendary Gaston Chevrolet and Ralph De Palma, caused five deaths, and was suspended. On Sunday 30 May 1971, like every year, 33 cars will line up at the start. The Safety car will do one lap, then retreat to the pits, and the competitors, after following it by jousting, will take off. The favorites are all Americans: Peter Revson, cosmetics industrialist, who set the best times, Mark Donohue, the brothers Al and Bobby Unser, the only family to win the Indy 500, Anthony Foyt, the most consistent in placings in the last decade, Mario Andretti, the Ferrari driver. In reality, foreign participation is reduced to a minimum: the Englishman David Hobbs, who however races in an American car, and the New Zealander Denny Hulme. No fewer than 6000 people work on the track and in the pits this week. The basin has a permanent workforce of 110 men, but the preparations are extremely complicated. The members generally amount to eighty, which are then halved. To have any hope of winning, a team must show up with two drivers and four cars (two in the race and two in reserve). Builder Andy Granatelli, an enthusiast who has competed since 1946 and is Andretti's patron, says the total expense is $600.000, of which he doesn't get any money back. For pilots, the incentives are exceptional. Al Unser, victorious last year, pocketed $300.000. There is a whole legend around the Indy 500. As with the Olympics, it is almost more important to participate than to win. Every brick on the track (there are 3.200.000) has something to tell. The baptismal edition, that of 1911, was dominated by Ray Marnimi at 74 mp/h (the record now belongs to Mario Andretti with 156 mp/h). From 1913 to 1917 inclusive the Flying French triumphed. American supremacy, in the field of drivers and engines, only imposed itself in the 1920s. The 100 mph barrier was overcome by a competitor of Italian descent. Peter Di Paolo, in 1926. on one of the famous Miller specials. The 1930s saw the emergence of great drivers, such as Wilburn Shaw, the only one, together with Lou Meyer and Anthony Foyt, to finish first three times. The eve of the race was enlivened by an altercation between Hobby Unser and a police officer, an altercation in which Unser suffered a bruise to his left arm. Bobby says he was going from the restaurant to the motel - and says he hadn't been drinking - when he turned right at the red light. An agent. Thomas White stopped him and dragged him first to the police station at the racetrack and then to the city, to the sheriff's office.
"He handcuffed me before pushing me into the police car, and closing the door slammed him on the arm".
Bobby Unser shows the bruise, about fifteen centimeters long and ten centimeters wide. In the meantime, among scenes of pine and fir trees, on the Eifel hills surmounted by the ruins of an ancient manor, Ferrari, Alfa Romeo and Porsche will compete in the 1000 km of the Nurburgring. It is the eighth episode of the World Sports Championship, and it could be the decisive one. Porsche has 52 points, Alfa Romeo 36 and Ferrari 16. In fact, either Alfa wins or the title, for the third consecutive year, goes to Porsche. Immediately, because, in any case, it is difficult for it to escape the German brand, which can count on the overpowering 917-K for the 24 Hours of Le Mans, a race in which neither Alfa nor Ferrari will take part. Precisely for this reason, an Italian statement would take on the colors of a funny joke. It's possible, so much so that Ickx's 312-P Ferrari and Stommelen's Alfa Romeo 33.3 will start in the front row. In particular. Ickx set a fabulous time during testing (7'36"1, at an average of 180,240km/h): no driver or car has ever gone so fast on this track. The 312-P prototype, absent from the Targa Florio, returns to the track with Jacky Ickx and Clay Regazzoni. In the Maranello team, spells are made. No other car has suffered the blows of bad luck more than this red spider, says Mauro Forghieri:
"This terrible chain of accidents has slowed down its technical development".
However, the refinement process on the track for the next World Championship - which will be reserved for 3000 cc cars - continued successfully and today the 312-P is considered a cutting-edge machine. Thanks, first of all, to its 12-cylinder boxer engine, the same one that powers Formula 1 single-seaters. However, it comes in a tamed version (450 HP versus 470 HP), given the different type of use for which it is intended. The weight is around 620 kg. Among current cars it is the one with the best weight-power ratio. A guarantee, in theory, of success. In the wake of the splendid victory achieved in the Targa Florio, Alfa Romeo is present in Germany with proud intentions. Carlo Chiti states:
"The one who scares us is not Porsche but Ferrari. The Germans can be beaten, I don't know about the 312-P".
The Milanese company brings three 33.3 spiders, i.e. the 1071 model, and an example of the brand new 33.TT.3, i.e. the car with a tubular chassis that it tested in Sicily but did not take part in the race.
"In these two weeks we have continued the development work on our Balocco track and at the Nurburgring. But here we couldn't do much, given the bad weather conditions. We have enlarged the passenger compartment and modified some details, especially in terms of suspensions".
If the 33.3 (eight-cylinder engine, 440 HP, 630 kg) offer exceptional guarantees of reliability, the 33.TT.3 has a lighter weight of 1580 kg and better performance. Chiti - after the results and indications deriving from the two days of training - decides not to run the car, for the testing of which Zeccoli and Faceta had been summoned. Among other things, the gearbox broke on the tubular, forcing technicians and riders to interrupt testing. The crews of the old Alfas, as is known, are made up of Nanni Galli-Stommelen, Vaccarella-Hezemans and de Adamich-Pescarolo. At Porsche, they didn't accept the defeat suffered in the Targa Florio well. Some managers, referring to the two simultaneous punctures suffered by Larrousse's 908.3, say:
"In Sicily they have an easy knife".
Silly jokes or whispered truths? In any case, the Stuttgart company is once again offering its 3000 cc (360 HP, 570 kg) spiders. Two race for the colors of Gulf-Wyer with Rodriguez-Oliver and Siffert-Bell, two for Martini with Elford-Larrousse and Marko-Van Lennep. Rico Steinemann says:
"At the Targa Florio, Redman destroyed a car and Rodriguez damaged his. This was repaired on time. In addition, we made use of two units that we had in reserve at the factory. This time we are not starting with the underdogs, in this circuit we also need horsepower, and we have few of them. Our eight-cylinder boxer engine dates back to 1968. It wasn't developed because we were busy with the 917-K project, and now we're in trouble. I will be rooting for Ferrari: at least, if they win, the World Championship immediately ends up in our hands".
The Porsche like the phoenix. We thought it was a goner, and instead here it rose from the ashes and forcefully returned to the limelight, triumphing in the 1000 km of the Nurburgring with Elford, Rodriguez and Marko, bringing three 908.3s to the first three places, and winning the World Championship for the third time in a row Sport, of which the German competition constitutes the eighth episode. This is Porsche's fifth success at this home race. Ferrari, after a dazzling start, lost its 312-P entrusted to Ickx and Regazzoni due to an engine failure, and for a similar reason the Alfa 33.3 of Stommelen-Galli, the fastest of the trio of 3000 prototypes fielded by the Milanese company.
Alfa Romeo reached 4th and 5th place with De Adamich-Pescarolo and Vaccarella-Hezemans, but this time the result is not satisfactory. Porsche sporting director Rico Steinemann says:
"We were lucky. At the start, I didn't think we would end up winning. I considered Ickx's Ferrari and Stommelen's Alfa too strong. But if they broke up, it's not our fault. We set the race on pace, trying to make the most of the possibilities of our cars. They resisted: it went well".
In the 1000 km the Stuttgart technicians supervised the two Gulf and Martini teams. What mattered was winning; if the success had fallen to Wyer's team or Dechent's team, well, the detail would have been secondary. In fact, two Martini men prevailed, namely the Englishman Vie Elford and the Frenchman Gerard Larrousse, both also known for their skills as rally drivers. For Elford and Larrousse it is the second victory of the season (the other was won on March 20th in the 12 Hours of Sebring). Having achieved it ahead of Rodriguez-Siffert brought a lot of satisfaction to the Martini clan, who lately have felt a bit like the poor relation towards Gulf. And for a short time, in the final, Marko - with the second 908.3 Martini - did not reach Rodriguez. And we come to Ferrari and Alfa Romeo. The three-litre 312-P from Maranello, at least as long as it remained in the race, dominated as it wanted. Ferrari is a truly avant-garde car. Its performance was clearly superior to that of the German and Milanese cars, both in terms of acceleration and engine elasticity, and road holding. Ickx, on the fifth lap, with half-full tanks (60 litres) improved the official circuit record by lapping in 7'40"8, at an average of 178.4 km/h belonging to Rodriguez (7'50"4, at an average of 174.800 km/h, in 1970). The Belgian jumped into the lead at the start, increasing his lead over Stommelen, Elford, Siffert and Rodriguez with each pass until he had a margin of 40 seconds. On the sixth lap, the first alarm bell went off for the Ferrari clan. Ickx returned to the garage, telling Forghieri and Schetty:
"The water temperature suddenly rose".
The technicians noticed clear traces of a leak and of liquid, so much so that the Belgian had a wet suit on his back. Tuck in and refuel, off we go: one pass and Ickx stopped again. The patches were removed from the oil cooler vents, another tuck was done, and Jacky was off again. At that moment - eighth lap - Stommelen replaced the Ferrari with his Alfa, demonstrating that he knew how to do better than the Porsche 908.3. Having eliminated Siffert when the frame of his car broke after he crashed too forcefully on the descent with the picturesque name of fox jump, Stommelen preceded each rival by five laps, until Ickx completed the comeback and took the lead again. Ironically: two laps later. Galli, who had taken over Stommelen, arrived slowly at the Alfa garage. Unfortunately, the diagnosis is rapid: engine. Ferrari also had a driver change. Regazzoni took the lead (lap 15), but the Swiss managed to continue - still in the lead - only until lap 21. The 312-P was emitting a sad bluish smoke from the exhausts; for Clay the red spider the race was over. Mauro Forghieri exclaims:
"A cylinder has blocked; the car has done at least 14 laps on oil. I think that at the origin of everything there is some problem with the head gasket".
Water losses would essentially be an effect, and not a cause. The satisfaction of the faster passage and of having finally completed an experience, even if negative, remains in Ferrari's balance sheet. Patience.
"This time, at least, we don't take home the pieces after an accident".
Once the Ferrari disappeared and Stommelen's Alfa Romeo left the scene, the Porsche cars had the green light, also because the two Alfa Romeos still in the race did not have the strength to oppose.
On the first lap of the race, Hezemans-Vaccarella's 33.3 hit the bottom of a bump, causing damage to the chassis, shock absorbers and steering gear, so much so that the steering became alarmingly stiff. Vaccarella, who replaced Hezemans after eleven passes, had a heart-pounding adventure. The winner of the Targa Florio says:
"A shock absorber didn't work, the wheel got wedged in the bodywork and the car started spinning while I was going at 250 km/h".
Luckily, nothing happened; but naturally Vaccarella and Hezemans continued at a slower pace. On the other hand, it was reasonable to expect something more from de Adamich and Pescarolo; but the Italian, who saw his deficit compared to Elford rise from two to four minutes in about twenty laps, says he wanted to take the spider to the end. No heartbeat, no emotion, therefore, in the second part of the race. Five hundred quiet kilometers, apart from a lively show between Siffert, Rodriguez and Gulf sporting director, David York. The dismounted Siffert replaced the less fast Oliver as Rodriguez's partner, decreasing the gap to Elford. In the last driving shift, York wanted to let Rodriguez continue, despite the Mexican being tired. Siffert wanted to get behind the wheel of the 908.3, while Pedro didn't want to get out of it. The fact is that a brawl almost broke out and Siffert remained in the garage. Shall we bet that the team will change next year? We will see. What is certain is that having reached this point, never before has the 24 Hours of Le Mans presented itself in a more modest way than this year. The race represents the ninth episode of a World Sports Championship which now has nothing more to say: the title has already been won by Porsche with the success achieved at the Nurburgring. Nor can the French competition be presented as a hypothetical revenge for Alfa Romeo or Ferrari. The two Italian manufacturers gave up on the trip. It was useless to attack with the 33.3 and the three-litre 312-P, the large, super-powerful and fast cars equipped with five-litre engines. The 917-Ks from the Gulf and Martini teams will therefore have free rein for a family battle that could prove dangerous, even if only the Ferrari 512s from private teams could take advantage of it. The Porsche lineup appears formidable. There are three long-tail 917-Ks for Siffert-Bell, Rodriguez-Oliver and Elford-Larrousse and three short-tails for Attwood-Muller, Kaushen-Joest and Marko-Van Lennep. The engines are 12-cylinder 4900 cc with a power of around 620 horsepower. The differences between the six examples are of an aerodynamic nature.
The long queue should allow the German cars to reach 390 km/h on the Les Hunaudieres straight, which is the speed reached by Oliver in the preliminary training sessions in April. In the two days of testing, Rodriguez, Elford and Siffert were the fastest of the Porsche squadron and overall, in particular Rodriguez, who completed a lap in 3'13"9, at an average of 250.069 km/h. The Mexican, therefore, he broke down (albeit only unofficially) the track record, belonging to Vic Ellord (3'21"0, 1970), and demolished the 250 km/h average limit. It is likely that no one, in the future, will be able to go below Rodriguez's limit and those who will eventually be able to establish his teammates on Saturday and Sunday. In the group of private Ferraris (eight), the most valid, in terms of preparation and crews, are three: the 512-M of Hobbs-Donohue and Vaccarella-Jimcadella and the 512-F of Parkes-Pescarolo. The first, developed in the United States by the American Penske and Sunoco, gave the Porsches a hard time in the US races of the World Championship, but had no luck, the other two benefited from the help of the Maranello team. Parkes then added particular changes. Of note is the presence of Vaccarella and Pescarolo, Alia Romeo drivers, left free for this race. The 24 Hours of Le Mans, the ninth episode of the World Sports Championship, and the Memorial Rindt in Hockenheim, the Formula 1 test race, constitute the main events of motoring Sunday. Two events that stand at opposite poles: the French race represents a point of arrival for Porsche and the cars used. The cars equipped with five liter engines from Stuttgart will no longer race in 1972 and the fight for the title will be reserved for 3000 cc cars. This, perhaps, will lead the German brand to leave the sporting activity, at least in this field. The German competition, however, presents itself as a springboard for Ferrari towards the future, towards the next tests in which Ickx, Ragazzoni and Andretti will try to beat the great Stewart. Ferrari, which this year gave up the challenge with Porsche in the sports 5000 sector, presenting a three-litre spider which was to be its weapon of success in 1972, is betting everything on Formula 1. Hockenheim, even if Stewart didn't race, having gone to Canada to take part in the first round of the Can-Am Cup, it is an injection of confidence ahead of the Dutch Grand Prix.
At Le Mans, Sunday 13 June 1971, Porsche achieved its seventh success (the sixth with the 917-K) out of nine races of the World Sports Championship with the duo Helmut Marko and Gijs van Lennep. This year Porsche was only beaten at Brands Hatch and in Sicily by Alfa Romeo. The Milanese manufacturer preferred not to participate in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, and it did the right thing. On fast circuits the German cars, equipped with five-litre engines, are practically invincible. In 1969, the year of the 917's debut, they won five out of ten tests (and another two went to the 908.02 three litres); in 1970, seven hits out of ten. In total, in these last three seasons, 18 victories out of 29 races. Figures that speak for themselves and which were achieved through the two teams to which Porsche is entrusted: Gulf and Martini. Ironically, the two successes in the 24 Hours were achieved by Martini men, that is, from those teams to whom the Porsche had put Gulf ahead of the competition on several occasions. At the same time, Ferrari returns to success in Formula 1. Jacky lckx, at the wheel of the 312-B2, dominates the Memorial Rindt on the German circuit of Hockenheim, a Grand Prix not valid for the World Championship but equally indicative of the values on the field, presenting almost all drivers and cars participating in the event. The Belgian precedes the Swede Peterson, on the March, and Surtees, on the Surtees. Regazzoni was forced to stop due to an ignition system malfunction after a few laps, while he was in second place, behind his teammate. The Italian debutant Nanni Galli reaches the finish line fifth with the March-Alfa. A promising placement. It was, for the 70.000 spectators gathered on the large steps of Hockenheim, a boring competition. The superiority of lckx's Ferrari was clear. The Belgian, who had set the best time in practice, took the lead at the start and maintained his position until the end. On lap 28 of the scheduled 35th of this race that remembers Jochen Rindt, lckx set the new circuit record, lapping in 1'58"5, at an average speed of 206,200 km/h. Almost a month has therefore passed since the spectacular carousel in Monte-Carlo and the Formula 1 World Championship is offering the fourth round for Sunday 20 June 1971: the Dutch Grand Prix.
You stay by the sea, because the Zandvoort circuit, like the one created in the streets of the Principality, was built right on the coast, among the windswept dunes that fade into the Atlantic Ocean, or rather into the North Sea. Even the cars, these single-seaters with 470 HP in the engine and 200 liters of petrol in the tanks, are the same, although updated and refreshed by that continuous, constant process of improvement, which constitutes one of the most interesting and characteristic aspects of Formula 1. And the men? The usual ones, albeit with the addition of some new elements in search of glory. Nothing new, truly new, therefore, but the repetition of a theme that opened in March with the South African Grand Prix, that is, the challenge between the Ferraris of Ickx, Andretti and Regazzoni and Stewart's Tyrrell. In the background, the others, ready to take advantage of the slightest mistake of the protagonists, eager not to be relegated to the gray role of extras. But, to be honest, this theme has undergone an evolution. We started with Ferrari at the top, strong with its proven 312-B1 and about to exploit the more powerful and improved 312-B2, with three exceptional drivers, Ickx, Andretti and Regazzoni. Three talented riders, rivals among themselves but not to the point of trying to hinder each other like Rodriguez and Siffert. On the other hand, Jackie Stewart. Well done, very good but alone and in a rather traditional car, with an engine - the 8-cylinder Ford-Cosworth - less powerful than the prestigious 12-cylinder boxer from Maranello. Instead, the Tyrrell proved to be a resistant, well-balanced and fine-tuned single-seater, Cosworth improved its engine by creating the now well-known 11 Series and Stewart confirmed on the driving circuits such as those of Barcelona and Monte-Carlo be unbeatable. So, on the eve of the Dutch Grand Prix, the situation is this: Stewart leading the World Championship standings with 24 points, Ickx second with 10, Andretti third with 9 and Regazzoni seventh with 4 points. Result? That it is no longer Stewart who has to annoy the Ferrari trio, but the latter who finds himself having to go wild to interrupt the golden streak of the Scotsman and Tyrrell, to prevent him from flying towards that title that a Maranello driver has no longer achieved since six-year-old John Surtees in 1964. Can Stewart be stopped? The fans are asking themselves this and they are also asking this of Ferrari. At the base, to begin with, it must be noted that Stewart is only one. So far, everything has gone smoothly for him. The collapse of a tire would be enough to make him lose the race. Then, a more pleasant element: Zandvoort is a fast circuit, much faster than the Spanish and Monegasque ones.
In Barcelona, Ickx completed the fastest lap at an average of 160.356 km/h, in Monte-Carlo Stewart scored the best time lapping at an average of 137.737 km/h, while Ickx set the record lap in Holland in 1970 at 190.518 km /h on average. Now, on this terrain the 12-cylinder boxer should express its power more concretely. In this sense, a clear sign came from Hockenheim, where the Formula 1 Memorial Rindt was held. Clear success for Ickx, indisputable dominance over the other cars, feeling of notable superiority over the Cosworths. And Hockenheim is indeed a fast track, like Zandvoort. We add that, this time, the American from Italy, Mario Andretti, who was excluded from the Monaco test, should offer a valid contribution to Ferrari. If the Ferrari-Tyrrell fight will be the cornerstone of the Dutch Grand Prix, other reasons, both technical and human, cannot be overlooked. In this month of rest, the teams have tried to improve their cars. B.R.M., for example, prepared an original nose for its P 160, while Matra created a new type of cylinder head for the MS 120 and, in collaboration with Goodyear, experimented with new wheels. Much work has been done on the suspensions in relation to the needs dictated by current tyres, whose profile continues to be lower, with an increasing tread width. We await with interest the debut in the World Championship of some more or less young drivers, from the Dutch Gijs Van Lennep, recent winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans paired with Helmut Marko, to the American Skip Barber and Nanni Galli. The Tuscan will have a March with an Alfa Romeo engine. In Monte-Carlo, Nanni was unable to qualify due to a series of problems that had affected the car, but in the Memorial Rindt he achieved a very respectable fifth place, completing an intelligent race and remaining in the wake of the best drivers. The long-distance challenge with Andrea de Adamich, with whom Galli shares possession of the March-Alfa, continues. Although some of the scandal-mongering, newspapers insist that the Zandvoort race-track is doomed and the future of the Dutch Grand Prix is in doubt, nothing could be further from the truth; the year-long activities at the Dutch circuit continue to make the whole setup a good business proposition, of which the local town council benefit by receiving a large slice of the income, as distinct from the profit.
With the ever-increasing demands by the Formula 1 entrants, and further demands of expenditure of hard cash by the GPDA Safety Brigade, there are times when one is given to wondering why organizers carry on with Grand Prix racing. Whatever the reason, this year’s Dutch Grand Prix sees a bumper entry and there is no squabbling or dissatisfaction over who is to start as all 25 drivers listed in the entry are to be accepted on the starting grid. After scrutineering has taken place on Friday morning, practice gets under way in the afternoon with a following wind blowing down the straight, thus encouraging a fast day as it is known. The weather is very grey and gloomy and, with the scrub grass and sand dunes all around and the muddy-looking North Sea just behind the grandstands, the Zandvoort circuit is about as gay and entrancing as it is ever likely to be and one begins to see why everyone likes circuits like Barcelona and Monte-Carlo. However, the job in hand is to put in some fast laps as soon as possible as there is every likelihood of the weather breaking up later on, and the bogey time is the 1'19"23 set up by Ickx last year in the original prototype flat-12-cylinder Ferrari. Now there are not only two similar cars as spares, with 1971 engines, but three of the second version of the flat-12-cylindered cars, the 312 B2 models, and it is Regazzoni setting the pace with #5 car, having been out earlier in the week doing some unofficial practice. He has got down to a cool 1'17"98 when the engine blows up and the car is wheeled round the back of the pits with oil dripping from everywhere, and work begins on removing the engine and installing a new one. Also in the first part of the afternoon Team Lotus has a disaster, for Walker has barely begun to circulate in Fittipaldi’s Lotus 72 when he falls off the edge of the track and damages the rear end too badly for immediate repair, so that is the end of all Charlton’s hopes of joining Team Lotus for this race. He is to have taken over 72D/R5 when the turbine car is ready for Walker to drive. It is quite clear that laps under 1'20"0 are the least that can be considered competitive and both Andretti and Ickx are well inside this figure by mid-afternoon, as is Wisell, who is now alone in upholding Lotus’ honour, Stommelen is in there with the second of the 1971 Surtees cars, and Ganley also, indicating that the sparkle that appears in his driving at Hockenheim has not been a flash in the pan.
Stewart is experimenting with the new Girling double-disc brakes on the latest Tyrrell car and amid a certain amount of detail bothers he just scrapes in under the 1'20"0 barrier. After the mid-afternoon break things really begin to happen and Ickx sets up a new fastest time with 1'17"42, with Rodriguez right behind him with 1'17"46, these two 12-cylinder cars being visibly faster down the straight than anything else. After a bit more experimenting with the new brakes on the Tyrrell, Stewart goes out and very quickly got within striking distance of the cars with the 12-cylinder engines with the time of the 1'17"64. While the general increase in pace is going on, Regazzoni crashes his spare Ferrari, number 4, and just before practice ends Andretti has a spectacular accident past the pits in the brand-new 312B/2 and it is later revealed that both are the result of tyres centrifuging inwards on some new ultra-wide rims. This means a reshuffle in the Ferrari camp, and Andretti takes over the remaining spare car on the following day, while Regazzoni has his 1971 car back again. The list of problems that befell Ferrari on the first day of testing for the Dutch Grand Prix could fill a book. The toll is serious: out of five single-seaters brought to Zandvoort (plus a reserve engine) for Ickx, Regazzoni and Andretti, two were seriously damaged due to the Swiss and the Italian-American going off the track, while a third was stopped in the garage due to the failure of his twelve-cylinder boxer engine. This machine was entrusted to Regazzoni. Clay got into another one and went off the road. On Friday night the mechanics will have to work around the gutted fairings of the 312-B 2. replacing parts, repairing others in a long and delicate job that will find its most accurate evaluation on Sunday, in the race. Engineer Mauro Forghieri, Ferrari's technical director, says:
"While the others continue with the development, we are forced to redo the cars. And this with all the difficulties we have, especially for spare parts".
In fact, the agitated union situation at the Maranello plant also has repercussions on the racing department, in every sense. Regazzoni and Andretti were very lucky, because they were both traveling at 230-250 km/h. The fences placed at the edge of the track reduced the effects of the impact, saving the drivers and reducing damage to the cars. However, they are there, to the body, the suspension, the radiators, the spoilers and - for Andretti's 312-B2 - the chassis. Clay Regazzoni with the Ferrari and Dave Walker with the Lotus went off the track a few minutes apart in the fast mixed section that precedes the straight where the pits and grandstands are located. Andretti, however, with another Ferrari, ended up off the road at the entrance to the curve that closes this straight. Luckily the three pilots remained unharmed. The cars suffered damage to the bodies and suspensions, but it is hoped they can be repaired. Regazzoni says:
"I came out of a fairly easy corner at 230 km/h. Suddenly, the car started spinning, I careened on the track two or three times, then I ended up outside, towards the left. The safety nets gathered me, softening the impact. Believe me, I don't understand how this could have happened".
The right rear tire appeared collapsed to the rescuers, but this could also have been caused by the impact. No doubt. Instead, for Andretti. The Italian-American ended up off the road due to the failure of a tire (what caused it, however, we don't know), also this time the right rear. The Italian-American was braking, about 150 meters from the start of the Tarzan curve. The Ferrari, which was traveling at around 240 km/h, shot to the right, knocking down about fifty meters of protective netting. The presence of some glass debris on the tires of other cars has led some to believe that Clay and Mario may have ended up on some more substantial shard. But these are only hypotheses. The reasons for this sagging therefore remain unclear: defect of origin or intervention of foreign bodies? For example, fragments of glass were mentioned. The fact is that Ferrari's supremacy in the initial testing session of this fourth episode of the Formula 1 World Championship received a rude blow. It's a shame, as Ickx still set the fastest lap and Regazzoni the fourth best time behind Rodriguez and Stewart. Andretti, in his first experiences on the Dutch circuit, had to settle for eighth place.
It must be noted that between Ickx and Regazzoni and the two rival drivers (Stewart and Rodriguez) the battle is on the edge of hundredths of a second. The B.R.M. of the Mexican progresses, while Stewart never contradicts himself, as well as having one of the most efficient super-Cosworths. The Matras also performed well, so much so that it seems logical to expect a larger battle than expected.
"Jackie Stewart? He is good, very good, but he is a man like the others. He can be beaten".
This is Mario Andretti speaking, one of the three Ferrari drivers who will try to stop the Scot and Tyrrell in the Dutch Grand Prix on Sunday.
"Stewart has 24 points in the World Championship, Ickx 10 and I 9. I think, therefore, I can still hope for the title, especially now that the slow circuits are over".
The Italian-American is calm, despite going off the track in which he was involved a few minutes before the end of practice.
"It was the fault of a tyre, an accident like many others. Too bad about the car, rather. I hope the mechanics can repair it".
Andretti won the first Grand Prix of the year, in South Africa, while in Spain he was forced to retire, and in Monaco he failed to qualify for the race.
"It was an unfortunate episode. The car had some problems, the rain stopped me in two out of three training sessions. Sometimes, it happens that you blame yourself when things don't go well. Then, you discover that you can put some of the blame on the car and then you calm down".
For the Italian-American, however, the problem of lack of knowledge of European circuits remains.
"As happened in Barcelona and Monaco, it's the first time I've taken to the track in Zandvoort. I started lapping on Wednesday and I have to say that it's not an easy track, at least it's not easy to push the car to the limit. There are very fast curves and bends with some trajectory problems. You have to be sure of yourself before loosening up and tackling the track naturally".
It must be added that in Zandvoort the Ferrari drivers make eleven gear changes and almost reach 300 km/h. In Holland, for Andretti, there is also the need to get along with the 312-B2, or rather with the new single-seater model created by Ferrari and so far used only by Ickx and Regazzoni. Mario, very honestly, does not make any judgements, he says that he cannot evaluate the differences between the old model and this one in relation to circuits on which he has never raced. His teammates, however, say that the 312-B2 is less understeering, more manageable and stable, above all the engine allows better use.
"In any case, track exits aside, I think our cars now have an advantage over the Tyrrell-Ford Stewart. We have more horsepower, we should be able to prove it. Personally I think he will be able to perform better on the American circuits, in the Canadian and United States Grands Prix, perhaps even in Austria. But I won't go to Austria, because this race is contemporary with a competition that takes place in the United States and is valid for the US championship. Of course, if I were leading the Formula 1 World Championship…".
Let's not forget that Andretti is not entirely at Ferrari's disposal. He is keeping his foot in both shoes, for now, and this year he did not want to give up the rich American Formula Indy races, in which he participates with a car, the McNamara sponsored by Andy Granatelli. In this regard, Mario is keen to point out that the rumors that arose after the Indy 500 of his divorce from Granatelli are just that.
"Andy and I are always together".
And it turns out that US commitments will keep Andretti away from the French Grand Prix scheduled for July on the Le Castellet circuit. But, then, is it Stewart or is it the races in America that will end up making it very difficult for Andretti to win the Formula 1 title? Andretti smiles.
"My plans may change, but it is logical that I came to this championship without too ambitious goals. We immediately aim for the best, it's natural, but I also calculated the difficulties. There is always the apprentice's discomfort when descending onto new terrain".
Andretti, however, is a luxury apprentice. Nobody doubts it, neither his teammates nor his opponents. Stewart can be beaten. If Andretti succeeds in the feat, Ferrari will keep its super trio compact. There seems every possibility that the drivers would break 1'17"0 in the following practice periods, providing everything stayed constant, but as so often happens things do not remain constant and on Saturday morning it is pouring with rain. So bad is the rain, and prospects for any improvement in the weather so remote, that a lot of drivers give Saturday morning practice a miss, knowing that there is plenty of time in the afternoon to splash round in the rain. Unfortunately, this catches them out, for suddenly the weather clears and, apart from a change in direction of the wind, the afternoon becomes fine. Those who have deliberately not practiced in the morning, like Surtees, Cevert and Hulme, are not to know they have been caught out until next morning when the rain returns. Due to an impressive piece of organization and a lot of hard work Team Lotus has got the Pratt and Whitney turbine engine back from Canada and installed in the 4-wheel-drive chassis and Walker is out practicing as soon as possible. It is not possible to effect immediate repairs to the crashed Lotus 72 so Charlton has to remain a spectator. Andretti takes over the remaining spare Ferrari and Regazzoni have his 1971 car back again. So bad are the conditions during the morning that even the fastest laps recorded are 20 seconds slower than the previous day’s times. Only Regazzoni and Rodriguez brake the 1'40"0 mark and then by only a gnat’s whisker. During the lunch break, conditions suddenly improve and the afternoon becomes warm and dry, but the wind is now head-on up the straight and though everyone is out and trying hard there is no question of approaching the Friday times, so for most drivers their first day’s times are the ones to count for grid positions.
Regazzoni and Siffert are fastest, with Rodriguez, Stewart and Ickx close behind. As Peterson is not too happy with the general feel of the new March 711 it has been put away, and he is concentrating on the early model, with the Cosworth V8 engine. The Ferraris and B.R.M.s are significantly faster down the straight than all the other cars, even the Matras, and but for Stewart and the Tyrrell the outcome of the two days' practice would have been a clean sweep for the 12-cylinder cars. Ickx, Rodriguez and Stewart remained at the top of the best times rankings and will start on the front row in the Dutch Grand Prix, the fourth round of the Formula 1 World Championship. An almost decisive event because another success would launch Stewart towards a leading position difficult to undermine. This time the motto could be: everyone against Stewart. The tests did not bring any particular changes in the line-up of the 24 drivers who will take to the track on Sunday. In the morning, the rain and wet asphalt slowed down everyone's progress, while in the afternoon, when the sun returned, it was a strong wind that prevented the riders from improving the times set on Friday, with a few exceptions. The wind blew along the grandstand straight in the opposite direction to the direction of the cars and brought sand onto the track from the dunes surrounding the circuit, making the corners slippery. Ferrari showed up at this second training session with many fears and problems. Engineer Mauro Forghieri, the team's technical director, gave up on having the two cars damaged on Friday when Regazzoni and Andretti went off the track.
The first would have required over twenty-four hours of work, the second - upon closer examination - revealed very serious injuries to the chassis.
"We couldn't waste too much time, we had to continue setting up the other cars".
The fleet consists of three 312-B2s, i.e. the new versions of the model released in 1970, and two old reserve 312-B1s, Andretti ended up off the road with a 312-B2, Regazzoni with a 312-B1. Therefore, Ickx and Regazzoni were able to keep their single-seaters (the broken engine was naturally replaced by the Swiss), while Andretti got into the surviving 312-B1, the same one that Ickx had driven to success at Hockenheim. The Maranello team technicians tried to ascertain the reasons for Regazzoni and Andretti's off-track exits. Denny Hulme, who saw the Italian-American's accident very well, describes precisely what happened to the right rear tire of the 312-B2. The current tires used in Formula 1 are tubeless, i.e. without an inner tube. To increase transversal grip and power transmission to the ground, rims with an increasingly wider channel are used (17 inches in the Ferrari case), and tires with an increasingly lower profile. In this way, the rigidity of the tire sidewalls becomes greater. Due to it and as a result of the centrifugal force, deformations can occur affecting the heel area, where the gas (nitrogen and not air) is held. If this escapes, a sudden drop in pressure occurs. The tire sags. The driver doesn't realize it until cornering, when changing trajectory, by leaning on the affected tyre. It is a very valid explanation, so much so that today Ferraris have been fitted with wheels with a less wide channel, 15 inches. Why did this problem occur in Zandvoort and not before and only on the 312-B2? Probably due to the different operating temperatures of the tyres: here there are much faster and more demanding corners than those in Barcelona and Monte-Carlo. This was the most interesting technical fact, which, unfortunately, had a negative impact on Ferrari's current affairs. Having changed the wheels, in fact, forced the Maranello technicians to redo the set-up of the cars. A long and delicate job, which forced the drivers to repeatedly stop in the garage. Mauro Forghieri says:
"With these wheels we lose half to a second per lap".
On the other hand, you certainly couldn't tempt fate by keeping the wheels used on Friday. Ickx, Regazzoni and Andretti were never satisfied.
"They drove us crazy, they wanted us to redo the cars".
Naturally, Andretti meticulously tried to set a good time and, as the minutes passed, he became more and more annoyed. Having changed cars forced him, according to the regulations, to attempt a new exploit in order not to lose positions at the start, given that the time of 1'18"85 achieved on Friday was no longer valid. Unfortunately, Mario had to settle for a a relatively modest time of 1'20"32, finishing third on the seventh row. A nervous eve for the men of the Maranello team, therefore, even if Regazzoni ended up obtaining the best time of these tests, proving himself the fastest both in the rainy morning and in the windy afternoon. But the moment is important, in a Grand Prix of just 70 laps (293 kilometres), in just an hour and a half of racing, many hopes will be revived or extinguished, and it doesn't mean that only Stewart should be feared on this circuit : there are those from B.R.M. and Matra-Simca, with their 12-cylinder engines that could validly fit into the Ferrari-Stewart challenge. The Scotsman, for his part, with a certain modesty, says:
"I don't think I have much chance of success tomorrow".
He will simply wait for the Ferraris to stop, if they do, and then he will surge forward. But the race will also be worth following the performance of some rookies, from the Englishman Dave Walker, who will make his debut in a World Championship Formula 1 Grand Prix with the turbine-powered and all-wheel drive Lotus, to the Dutchman Van Lennep, winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans (the simple rental of a Surtees-Ford single-seater cost him 6.000.000 lire), to Nanni Galli, the only Italian in the race, with a great desire to do well. If he deserves it. Race day is as wet and dull as Zandvoort has ever known, yet an impressive crowd of spectators pour into the circuit all morning, as everyone prepares for a really wet race, with knobbly wet-weather tyres, waterproofing over the electrics and much preparation for keeping water out of visors and cockpits. In view of the dreadful conditions, a 15-minute free practice session is allowed before the start so that drivers can weigh up the conditions of the track. While everyone is assembling on the dummy grid, the Ferrari mechanics suddenly rush Andretti’s car back to the pits and feverishly start to change the petrol pumps, as the system has lost all its pressure. . Andretti has to sit patiently in the cockpit while mechanics work away at the back of the car and, though the Dutch officials delay the start as long as possible, they can wait no longer and one by one engines are started up and preparations made to move the 23 cars forward to the starting grid. Ickx makes a spectacular practice start off the dummy grid, and then he, Rodriguez and Stewart lead the rows of cars forward to the starting line. The flag falls and so slippery, is the track that nothing seems to happen for seconds, and then the Firestone tyres of Ickx and Rodriguez find grip and pull away from Stewart, who is still trying to make his Goodyears grip the road. As the field pours into the Tarzan hairpin in a cloud of spray Amon has his Matra right on the outside edge of the raised corner and is going round the outside of Stewart, but just fails to get by so that the order round the back of the pits and away across the sand dunes is lckx, Rodriguez, Stewart, Amon, Regazzoni, Surtees. In the opening, scramble Siffert and Soler-Roig have spins on the wet track and there is a lot of dodging about but no damage. Ickx leads from Rodriguez on the opening lap, and once again Amon goes high on the banked Tarzan corner, and this time falls over the edge into the sand and the wire mesh safety fence, where the Matra remains stuck while everyone goes by.
At the end of lap 2, the Ferrari of Ickx and the B.R.M. of Rodriguez have opened up quite a considerable gap from Stewart, who is still in third place, but as the dark blue Tyrrell goes into the Tarzan comer at the end of the main straight it spins helplessly and Stewart has to sit and watch while a whole row of smiling opponents go by him, and he is in eighth place when he gets going again. As he motors off from the corner leaving Amon still working away to get his Matra out of the safety fence, Andretti joins the race from the pit lane with a great rush of noise and spray. He arrives at the first corner and promptly spins, luckily staying on the track, and sets off at a more sedate pace, after which Amon gets his Matra disentangled and motors round to the pits but the radiator is split so that was that. By the end of the third lap the Dutch Grand Prix is over for all except Ickx and Rodriguez, who are way out on their own and indulging in a motor race that must go down in history. On the next lap Pescarolo gets his Frank Williams March 711 all sideways and out of control and runs into Schenken’s Brabham as they accelerate out of the Tarzan hairpin along the short straight behind the pits, and the rather vulnerable aerofoil on the nose of the March is badly bent. Pescarolo stops at the pits next time round and has the complete aerofoil removed and continues the race with the front of the March looking very light and almost airborne. Accidents are by no means over, for, as the Lotus turbine car ends lap 5, Walker misjudges his braking point past the pits and goes straight on over the bank and almost out of sight amongst the restraining mesh fences and advertising hoardings, escaping unscathed, but with the nose of the Lotus wiped off. It is no day at all for Team Lotus for two laps later Wisell pulls his Lotus 72 smartly out of his race with Peterson’s March and stops just beyond the pits with a rear wheel coming loose. He reverses back into the pit lane but of course this entails immediate disqualification. While this is going on there is another coming together at the end of the main straight when Galli and Cevert get tangled together under-braking and the March and the Tyrrell end up in the sand. Amidst all this unruliness Ickx and Rodriguez are really getting on with a motor race and they end lap 8 side-by-side, trying to out-brake each other for the Tarzan hairpin, and it is Rodriguez who gets in front as they fight each other all the way round the twisty bits behind the pits. Regazzoni is a comfortable third, followed by Surtees, Peterson, Beltoise and Stewart, but the little Scot is fast giving up and lets Stommelen, Ganley and Siffert go by on the next lap.
Andretti retires at the pits as his engine has not worked properly even with the new fuel pumps fitted, and Hulme, van Lennep and Hill are having a little race of their own at the end of the field, apart from the stragglers like Soler-Roig, Barber, Schenken, Gethin and Pescarolo. By 10 laps, with 60 still to go, the two tigers battling for the lead are lapping the end of the field and they race in and out of the traffic the way they do in long-distance sports-car races. Nothing is sacred to them and they sweep past Hill, van Lennep, Hulme and Stewart as if they are not there. Then they whittle down the distance to Ganley and Beltoise, who have been overtaken by Siffert, and then they catch the Swiss and after that Stommelen, all the while Rodriguez being first and Ickx second. Now the rout of the also-sans ends and Regazzoni, Peterson and Surtees remaine unlapped. The Swedish March driver has overtaken Surtees on lap 11, but cannot get away and the two cars are circulating in close company, in fourth and fifth places. Down at the back of the field Stewart lets Hill, van Lennep and Hulme go past and is going so slowly that the leaders are soon to lap him again. It is now very obvious that the first seven cars are running on knobbly Firestone wet-weather tyres, and the Goodyear-shod cars cannot keep up, apart from Beltoise, who has his Matra in eighth place, whereas Hill, Hulme and Stewart are just so far back it is pathetic to watch. On lap 20, Hulme gives up even more than Stewart has done, and lets the Scot get in front just as Rodriguez and lckx sweep by for the second time. The Dutch driver Gijs van Lennep, driving the original 1970 Surtees car, pleases his fellow countrymen by leaving behind the three ex-World Champions, Hill, Stewart and Hulme, and even though he is on Firestone tyres and they are on Goodyears, it is still a commendable effort, for they really should have been up in front of Beltoise, who is just ahead of van Lennep. The circuit is still desperately wet and slippery and, though the rain eases off, a sea mist is lying about everywhere making conditions terribly greasy, but this does not seem to worry Rodriguez and Ickx, who are still hard at it, even though their lap times are around 1'35"0. Shortly before half-distance lckx begins to put the pressure on harder and taking opportunities caused by slower cars in front of the B.R.M. he has the Ferrari’s nose right up with the rear tyres of the Bourne car.
On lap, 30 Ickx gets the lead back again, but Rodriguez is not giving up and side-by-side they run, coming up behind Schenken and Pescarolo, who are together once more, even though they have both had pit stops, the March to have its nose fin removed and the Brabham to have its accelerator linkage fixed when it comes adrift. For a moment the road is completely blocked for the Ferrari and B.R.M., and then Rodriguez dives between the two cars in front and is back in the lead again. That does not suit Ickx at all, and after one more lap he again scrabbles past the B.R.M. and back into the lead. All this would have been great stuff in perfect conditions, but on the wet and slippery track it is unbelievable and motor racing at its best, and this furious pace now carries them past Surtees and Petersen, so that only Regazzoni remains on the same lap as the two tough little heroes out at the front. Siffert is firmly in sixth place, followed by Ganley equally surely in seventh place, and then van Lennep driving a very good smooth race in his first Grand Prix event. Stommelen has gone off the road at the end of the straight and been helped back on again, which caws his disqualification. Then come the Goodyear-shod runners, with Beltoise leading them and Hill trying very hard to catch the Matra. After tangling with Galli’s March-Alfa Romeo, which is quite badly bent, Cevert finds that his Tyrrell has only suffered a dent in the monocoque on the right-hand side and a flattened oil catch-tank at the rear, so he extricates the car from the sand and goes on racing. The March is still just off the edge of the track and Stewart is trying to encourage the marshals to drag it further out of the way. Cevert’s race comes to a sudden stop when the left rear suspension collapses, obviously as a result of the earlier impact, and the Tyrrell spins off the road as the drive-shaft comes apart and bends the exhaust system and the rear cross-member over the gearbox. Although the weather does not exactly improve, the rain lets up and Ickx finds that he can pull away from the B.R.M. out of the two slow hairpins, as the Ferrari engine is pulling solidly from fairly low r.p.m., letting him use third gear, whereas Rodriguez is having to use first gear and keep the r.p.m. high to prevent it fluffing on acceleration. On the fast bends round the back of the circuit, the Mexican finds he can gain ground on his Belgian rival, but in the overall lap he is losing contact and for the last part of the race has to settle for second place and watch the Ferrari pull slowly but surely away.
At the back of the field, Soler-Roig has the Cosworth engine in his March 711 break and he pours out oil and smokes until the whole thing comes to a grinding halt on the back of the circuit. Then, with only five laps to go, Regazzoni misjudges his braking at the end of the straight and slides off the road into the wire mesh fence, but luckily is able to back out to rejoin the race still in third place. The fibre-glass nose of the Ferrari is shattered and the radiator pushes out of line, but there are no leaks so he presses on, scattering bits of fibre-glass as he goes. He has been lapped by the two racers and they have lapped Siffert, Surtees and Peterson for the second time, and the three Goodyear-shod ex-World Champions more times than is decent. The lap after Regazzoni makes his mistake, Surtees makes one out of the slow Hunzerug hairpin and clouts the guard rail with his right front wheel, which bends the suspension out of shape, and, with fingers crossed and an anxious eye on the front end, he slowed down and manages two more laps, by which time Ickx has crossed the line the winner of the 1971 Dutch GP by 8 seconds, he and Rodriguez having put on the sort of display of racing that Grand Prix badly needs.
"Stewart can be beaten".
Mario Andretti said it on Friday. And Stewart was beaten, even if the lack of tires suitable for the soapy Zandvoort track, fitted to his Tyrrell-Ford, played a significant role in the Scot's defeat. After two or three spins, Stewart continued to race just for the honor of signing, certainly not to win. Pedro Rodriguez rose to prominence with B.R.M. equipped with a 12-cylinder engine, but Ickx and his Ferrari 312-B2 left the Mexican no escape. Regazzoni, coming third, made this Dutch Grand Prix triumphant for the Maranello team, which sees its drivers forcefully relaunched in the Formula 1 World Championship. Poor Andretti, however, was once again mocked, in the occasion, from a petrol pump. The success of Ickx and Ferrari was crystal clear. A good battle with Rodriguez on equal terms, because both the 312-B2 and the B.R.M. they were fitted with tires of the same brand, which were much more functional than those of Stewart and other drivers. After the worries of the tests and the problems created by Regazzoni and Andretti going off the track, Ferrari looked at this race, almost decisive for the fate of the World Championship, with apprehension. And the beginning was, for a change, shocking. The rain that fell in the morning had made the track slippery, so much so that the race direction had decided to postpone the start by half an hour and allow the riders to complete a few reconnaissance laps on the circuit. The 24 cars began to spin and Andretti, after two passes, was in the garage. The mechanics were bustling around the car and discovered that the pump that puts pressure on the fuel system had broken. Engineer Mauro Forghieri, technical director, unleashed three mechanics to replace the device, while the other single-seaters completed their testing laps and lined up for the start. The race director decided to postpone the start for another five minutes to allow the Maranello specialists to complete the work. They operated with the skill of magicians, but they didn't make it in time. The Italian-American started four minutes late, spinning almost immediately. And after seven laps he returned to the garage: the initial pump failure had caused other, more serious injuries.
"Let's get off to a good start".
Forghieri said, and instead Ickx took care of calming people's spirits by immediately taking the lead in the race, while many of his colleagues performed a series of acrobatic tricks at the curve that closes the grandstand straight. The World Championship, therefore, starts again with the Dutch Grand Prix. The tires played an extremely important role, but two important elements must be underlined: Ickx's 312-B2 offered a splendid performance both in terms of performance and distance holding, weakening the B.R.M. by Rodriguez; the Belgian drove a great race, confirming his skills as an excellent driver in the wet. It now seems that Ickx is the safest candidate of the Ferrari trio to win the Formula 1 world title.
"The track seemed to be covered in ice, I struggled a lot, not with muscles but with concentration and nerves. Even on the straight it was a problem to stay on the road".
Jacky Ickx rests in the big Ferrari truck, which takes the cars from Maranello to circuits around the world. He is sitting, almost lying on one of the slides on which the single-seaters are placed. He drinks a beer given to him by one of the mechanics and, every now and then, smiles affectionately at his young wife Catherine, who spent the last minutes of the race smoking one cigarette after another and murmuring:
"We hope everything goes well”.
Everything went well, and now Jacky chats calmly.
"It was a great ride. Rodriguez went well and was faster in the first part. Then I attacked, and managed to overtake him. But, to be honest, I never felt like I had won. Well, when I crossed the finish line and took my hand out of the cockpit, then I was sure".
In fact, the gap between the Belgian and the Mexican is almost eight seconds and for Zandvoort that is quite a lot. Ickx also set the best lap in 1'34"95, at an average speed of 158.976 km/h.
"The car had no problems. I knew straight away that Stewart wouldn't have much of a chance but Rodriguez took on the role well".
Jacky adds, in a subdued tone, that he wants to dedicate his success to Piers Courage, the English driver who died last year in Zandvoort in the fire of his car in this same Grand Prix. With this victory, Ickx wins his fifth career Grand Prix and achieves a nice consecutive double, given that he had won at Hockenhelm in a race not valid for the World Championship. To which Jacky can now aspire with greater possibilities. But says Mauro Forghieri, who thinks of the two cars damaged in testing:
"It is a victory that we paid dearly for. However, I am happy because we are in contention to win the World Championship. On Tuesday we will go to Le Castellet to begin a series of tests in view of the French Grand Prix".
Andretti and Regazzoni are less happy. Andretti sighs:
"They all happen to me. Good thing this is supposed to be an apprenticeship year. But if I can't even do a run…".
While Regazzoni's car complained of some problems with the braking system.
"I was braking thrillingly and, with three laps to go, my left front wheel locked up. I risked going off track".
Finally, the two big losers, Stewart and Rodriguez. The Scotsman explains:
"What could I have done with those tires? I understood that it was useless to take risks".
And the Mexican concludes, saying:
"Towards the middle of the race, the engine started to fade. I understood that I would lose".