Race from the Past 1982 British GP

Race from the Past. XXXV Marlboro British Grand Prix,

Brands Hatch, July 16-18th 1982 By Simon Wright.

Keke Rosberg Williams FW08 claimed pole position but started at the back of the grid

The tenth round of the 1982 Formula One World Championship was the British Grand Prix, held at Brands Hatch in mid-July. As the Grand Prix circus arrived in Kent, Following a win in Detroit, British driver John Watson was leading the World Championship driving a McLaren Ford. With Emilio de Villota loosing his sponsor at the last minute, the field was down to thirty cars, and no prequalifying session was required. After qualifying round the 2.6 mile Grand Prix circuit, it was Finnish Driver Keke Rosberg who claimed his first Grand Prix pole position for the race at the wheel of his Williams Ford FW08 by just 0.087 of a second. However, the joy of qualifying turned to disappointment in the race, when they couldn’t get the Williams to fire up for the parade lap and Rosberg had to start from the back of the grid. He charged through the field at the start, moving up to 7th but blistered his tyres in the process. Pitting for new tyres dropped him back down the field. After working his way up again, Rosberg retired on lap fifty due to dropping fuel pressure. In 2nd place on the grid was Italian Riccardo Patrese in the Brabham BMW BT50 with his team mate Nelson Piquet in

Riccardo Patrese Brabham BMW BT50 was fast in qualifying, but didn’t get through the first lap

With the Brabham's out, Niki Lauda McLaren Ford MP4/1 took an easy victory

rd

in another Brabham BMW BT50. After the Williams problems at the start, the Brabham's started the race from the front. The team had thrown the rest of the paddock in to confusion when they arrived with loads of refuelling equipment and four air-guns. Brabham team owner Bernie Ecclestone and designer Gordon Murray had calculated that if they ran the cars on soft tyres and half a fuel load, the cars would be light enough and fast enough in the first half of the race to make up more time then it would take to pit and change to new tyres and refuel. Without the need to worry about fuel consumption, the turbo engine could run at a higher boost level and as fuel wan’t included in the weight regulations at the time, it was completely legal. At the start there was more drama for Patrese who stalled the second Brabham when the lights went green. He was hit from behind and nudged off on the grass by Arnoux in the Renault RE30B, with both cars out of the race. Unfortunately, Teo Fabi in the Toleman Hart TG181C also got involved in the first lap accident and was also out of the race.In the early stages, the Brabham BMW BT50 of Piquet was dominant and nothing could stay with him. Unfortunately, they didn’t get to try out the

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Didier Pironi Ferrari 126C2 finished 2nd

Chico Serra debuted the new Fittipaldi Ford F9 for 2 laps before being involved in an accident with Jean-Pierre Jarier.

fuel stop idea, as Piquet retired on lap nine due to fuel pump failure. Niki Lauda in the McLaren Ford MP4/1B made a good start and passed Didier Pironi in the Ferrari 126C2 at Druids. Lauda pulled away from the Ferrari and although he could not match the pace of the Brabham BMW, Lauda took a comfortable lead when Piquet retired, year. Afterwards Lauda said of his race victory “It was a race without problem. For sure I could not stay with Piquet, but once he was out, it was straightforward. Easy? No way. No Grand Prix victory in easy, but I had no worries….” Taking 2nd and 3rd on the podium were the Ferrari pair of Didier Pironi and Patrick Tambay in their Ferrari 126C2. This gave the lead in the World Championship to Pironi for the first time Finally making his home Grand Prix debut was local hero Nigel Mansell in the JPS Lotus Ford 91, complete with strapped up wrist. After qualifying 23rd, he only managed twenty nine laps before retiring due to illness.

The Fittipaldi team arrived with their new Fittipaldi Ford Cosworth F9 car making its debut with Brazilian driver Chico Serra. The race was a glorified test session for the team, who managed to qualify 21st. They didn’t manage to get much mileage on the car as Serra was involved in an accident on the second lap.

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Eddie Cheever preferred the older Ligier Matra JS17 but retired on lap 60 with engine failure

Elio de Angelis JPS Lotus Ford 91 finished 4th

The Ligier team arrived with four cars, the team split on wether to continue development on the new Ligier Matra JS19 or just race the old Ligier Matra JS17 and develop next years car in the background. Jacque Laffite and his brother-in-law Jean-Pierre Jabouille, team manager, wanted to use the JS19, which qualified 20th, while team owner Guy Ligier and second driver Eddie Cheever

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wanted to race the older car which qualified 24th. Cheever got up as high as 7th before having to retire with engine failure. Laffite had already retired on lap forty one with gearbox failure.

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In qualifying, Elio de Angelis had qualified a new version of the JPS Lotus 91 in 7th place, splitting the two Renault of Arnoux and Prost. While challenging Pironi in the Ferrari for 2nd in the race, the engine developed problems.

John Watson McLaren Ford MP4/1B was fastest Brit in qualifying but retired on lap 2

De Angelis managed to keep going and finished 4th at the end, just holding off Derek Daly in the Williams FW08 in 5th and Alain Prost in the Renault RE30B who took the final point in 6th position.

Best of the British drivers after qualifying was John

Watson in the McLaren Ford Cosworth MP4/1B in 12th. At

the start, he had to take to the grass to avoid the the Patrese and Arnoux incident. A couple of laps later, Watson spun off on his dirty tyres while avoiding another midfield collision between Jarier and Serra and was out. Derek Warwick managed a magnificent 16

th place in the

Toleman Hart TG181C in

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qualifying, just ahead of Brian Henton in the Tyrrell Ford 011. Warwick made a great start and passed Tambay, Prost and Giacomelli In the Alfa Romeo 182 thanks to improved Pirelli tyres and a new Hart turbo engine. He continued to charge through the field, making short work of the Alfa Romeo of Andrea de Cesaris, followed by the Williams FW08 of Daly and the Lotus 91 of De

Derek Warwick Toleman Hart TG181C passes Patrick Tambay Ferrari as he climbed up to 2nd before retiring on lap 40 - half shaft failure

Angelis. By lap twenty one he was on the gearbox of the Ferrari of Didier Pironi in 2nd place. On lap twenty five, to an almighty roar from the fans, Warwick was through in to 2nd place and set off after the leader Lauda. Unfortunately,

Bruno Giacomelli was 7th in the Alfa Romeo 182, one lap behind the winner,

the dream ended on lap forty one when the Toleman retired due to CV failure. Mansell in the second JPS Lotus Ford 91 qualified back in 23rd due to a painful hand, and retired from the race on lap twenty Nine due to illness. In 7th place was the first of the Alfa Romeo 182 of Bruno Giacomelli, one lap behind the winner. The

Mauro Baldi finished 9th in the Arrows Ford Cosworth A4

Jochen Mass (17) was the last classified finisher in 10th in the March Ford Cosworth 821. Team mate Raul Boesel (18) failed to qualify.

Jean-Pierre Jarier Osella Ford Cosworth FA1D retired on lap 2 after colliding with Serra.

other Alfa Romeo of Andrea de Cesaris retired on lap sixty six with electrical problems. Brian Henton took 8th place in the Tyrrell-Ford 011. The other Tyrrell of Michele Alboreto had retired on lap forty four with engine problems. In 9th place, two laps behind the winner, was Mauro Baldi in his Arrows Ford Cosworth A4. The other Arrows A4 of Marc Surer retired with engine problems on lap fifty nine. The final classified finisher was Jochen Mass in 10th at the wheel of a Rothmans March Ford Cosworth 821. Of the smaller teams, Roberto Guerrero retired the Ensign Ford Cosworth N181 on the third lap with engine problems. The Osella Ford Cosworth FA1D of Jean-Pierre Jarier and the Fittipaldi Ford Cosworth F9 of Chico Serra both retire on lap two after colliding. The two ATS Ford Cosworth D5 of Manfred Winkelhock and Eliseo Salazar, along with Jan Lammers in the Theodore Ford TY02 plus Raul Boesel in the March Ford 821 all failed to qualify.

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© Simon Wright

Teo Fabi Toleman Hart TG101 went out in the first lap accident.

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© Simon Wright

33 Jan Lammers Theodore Ford Cosworth TY02 failed to qualify

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Marc Surer Arrows Ford A4 retired with engine problems.

© Simon Wright Andrea de Cesaris Alfa Romeo, retired electrical problems, chasing Derek Daly Williams FW08 round Druids hairpin

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