[Race] The GROAT - Round 4 - 1957 Nürburgring vs 1976 Fuji

[crmalcolm]

1957 Nürburgring
Fangio had taken pole position in his Maserati 250F, with Mike Hawthorn in the Ferrari 801 alongside. Jean Behra (Maserati) and Peter Collins (Ferrari) completed the four-car front row. Fangio's pole time of 9 minutes 25.6 seconds was 2.8 seconds ahead of Hawthorn.

Come the race, Ferrari planned to not pit while Fangio decided upon a one-stop strategy on softer tyres. This didn't stop Hawthorn getting off the grid in the lead, ahead of teammate Collins and Fangio. Fangio took the lead on lap three and pitted, as planned, on lap 12, with a 30-second lead. However, this pit stop was disastrous; the left rear wheel nut became lost underneath the car and once it was found, Hawthorn and Collins had long gone past. Fangio emerged in third place, nearly 50 seconds behind the Ferrari pair.

Fangio started by taking 15.5 seconds off Hawthorn on his first lap and 8.5 the next. Setting not just fastest laps quicker than his qualifying time, but nine lap records, seven in succession, Fangio virtually drove the wheels off his Maserati in his chase. He caught with, and overtook, Collins early in the 21st lap and took the lead of Hawthorn later the same lap. Hawthorn challenged, but Fangio held firm to win the race, and his fifth World Championship title.

After the race, Fangio commented 'I have never driven that quickly before in my life and I don't think I will ever be able to do it again.' It would turn out to be somewhat accurate statement, as it was his final World Championship victory, and he retired in 1958.


1976 Fuji
Unlike the two practice days, raceday dawned dark, foggy and incredibly wet, with pools of water forming all around the Fuji Speedway. The half-hour warm-up session provided evidence that the conditions were poor at best, prompting several meetings between the drivers that would last well beyond the original start time. Another warm-up was staged, after which the majority of the drivers voted against starting, only to be told by the organisers and teams that they were to head to the grid anyway.

It was still very dark, very damp, and incredibly foggy when the starter's lights flashed to green, with the entire field struggling to get off the line amid the spray. A few drivers seemed to hook up their starts well, James Hunt immediately slithering past pole sitter Mario Andretti, while John Watson slipped his Penske up to second. However, their starts paled in comparison to that of Kazuyoshi Hoshino, who shot into the top ten in the old Tyrrell having started down in twenty-first.

Come the end of the opening tour it was Hunt leading with a huge gap back to Watson in second, with Andretti just visible in the Penske's spray. Jody Scheckter was next in the queue with Vittorio Brambilla, Clay Regazzoni and Patrick Depailler, while the remarkable Hoshino had made even more ground to settle himself into eighth. Hans-Joachim Stuck was next ahead of a rather miserable Niki Lauda, who could see his crown draining away, while Larry Perkins crawled into the pits at the back of the field to retire, citing the weather and a lack of control.

The second lap followed much the same pattern as the first, Hunt pulling further and further ahead, while Watson slipped back behind Andretti. Lauda, meanwhile, would continue to slide down the order, and, having been relegated out of the top ten, the Austrian decided it was not worth the risk of continuing. The defending World Champion duly brought his perfectly healthy car into the pits at the end of the second lap, declaring that the conditions were unsafe to continue.

On track, meanwhile, the Austrian's arch-rival Hunt continued to pound around at unabated speed, while Andretti slithered on in second. Watson continued on in third for another lap before being elbowed back by Brambilla, while Ronnie Peterson dropped out with an electrical short, caused by water getting into the system. However, Brambilla's moment in the (vacant) sun would be short lived, the Italian pitting a couple of laps later to have a disintegrated front left tyre replaced.

Further early retirements would include Carlos Pace and Emerson Fittipaldi, both citing the conditions, although the huge home crowd were all focused on the circuit. This was because local racer Hoshino was picking his way up the order, passing both Regazzoni and Scheckter to climb into the top three. He would remain there for a couple of laps before a barnstorming Brambilla reclaimed the position, the Italian having rejoined from the pits in eighth.

Indeed, Brambilla now became the centre of attention for the crowd, with the Italian soon seen sweeping past Andretti a couple of laps later before charging off after Hunt. By lap twenty the #9 March was within striking distance, with Brambilla duly sending his car slithering up the inside of the McLaren at the hairpin. Unfortunately the move was for too optimistic, with Brambilla missing the nose of Hunt's McLaren by millimetres, before spinning to a stop on the outside of the circuit.

Jochen Mass, whom had quietly picked his way up the order as others hit trouble, and Depailler moved past the Italian before he rejoined, with Brambilla citing an engine issue as the cause of the spin. By this stage several drivers had had to stop for fresh tyres, as the circuit was beginning to dry in certain places as the rain stopped shortly after the start. McLaren team boss Teddy Mayer spotted this and began to signal to his drivers to stay off the "racing line", with the Goodyear wets known to overheat quickly on even damp tarmac.

Mass, however, would ignore the advice of his team boss, sticking to the racing line as he reeled in teammate Hunt out front. Yet, just as the German seemed set to stab his British teammate in the back, Mass ran into one of the large puddles lying on the outside of the final corner, aquaplaning straight into the barriers. Mass climbed out of the now noseless McLaren, leaving Hunt with a comfortable lead over Tom Pryce, who was another silently picking his way up the order.

Indeed, Pryce would continue to close onto the back of Hunt as half-distance came and went, before the Shadow expired in a cloud of oil smoke. Depailler was duly promoted back into second ahead of the chasing Andretti, while Brambilla's second comeback came to an end with electrical issues. He joined a steadily growing list of retirements, with both of the Wolf-Williamss on the sidelines which had suffered unrelated failures.

With thirteen laps to go Hunt was seriously beginning to struggle with his heavily worn front left tyre, awaiting a call from his pit crew. They, however, were waiting for Hunt to come in on his own before leaping to action, meaning that the Brit was steadily losing both time and grip as the race wore on. That allowed Depailler to close right onto the back of the McLaren, while Andretti decided to cruise and conserve his wets.

Fate, ultimately, dictated the end of the race, as first Depailler, then Hunt, suffered tyre failures in the final stages, relegating them down the order. Depailler dropped first, sprinting past Hunt to take the lead, only for his left rear tyre to disintegrate with ten laps to go. Quick work by the Tyrrell crew got the Frenchman back out on a fresh set of wets, the circuit too dangerous for slicks, with Depailler rejoining in fifth.

Two laps later and Hunt's front left tyre fell apart in the final corner, moments after the Brit had fallen behind the cruising Andretti. Fortunately the McLaren pitcrew had been ready to receive their lead driver for some time, and were quick to get the rear wheels changed, before manually lifting the front of the car to allow the fronts to be changed. Hunt was soon back in the fray but had dropped to fifth behind Regazzoni, Alan Jones and Depailler, a disaster in terms of his title bid as the Brit needed to finish fourth at worst to overhaul Lauda.

The final few laps were nothing short of spectacular, with both Depailler and Hunt scything towards the Ferrari and Surtees as the laps ticked away. The Tyrrell caught them first and blasted through without issue, his fresh wets meaning it was impossible for either Regazzoni or Jones to defend. Hunt would catch them at the start of the penultimate lap, passing both en-route to third place to send the McLaren pitcrew into the atmosphere.

All that was left was for Andretti to cruise through the final lap, the American duly crossing the line a lap clear of the field to claim victory for Lotus. Depailler was next across the line in second, while Hunt flashed through in third, believing he had failed to win the title. Jones overcame Regazzoni's late pressure to claim fourth, while Gunnar Nilsson complete the points in the second of the Loti.

With that the 1976 season was over, Hunt arriving in the pits despondent, only to be told by team boss Mayer that he was the World Champion. As the McLaren celebrations got underway, Lauda was seen climbing into a plane at a nearby airport, en-route to Italy for a post-race briefing with Enzo Ferrari. The Italian team would have to be satisfied with just the International Cup for Manufacturers for their work, knowing that Lauda would likely have won the title without his fiery accident at the Nürburgring.

[S griffin]

It's hard to not vote for the dramatic finale that was Fuji, but you can't beat Fangio's mega drive at the Nurburgring. One of the best ever