tohaapanen@watrose.UUCP (Tom Haapanen) (03/25/86)
Nelson Piquet won the Brazilian Grand Prix in Rio de Janeiro on Sunday in front of his home crowd. The 1980 and 1983 World Champion won the race by 7.5 seconds over his co-patriot Ayrton Senna. Piquet, driving a Williams-Honda, took the lead on lap 2, and only relinquished it briefly for two tire changes. Senna, in a Lotus-Renault, started from the pole position, but was pressured from the start. On the first lap, Nigel Mansell, also in a Williams-Honda, attempted to pass Senna on the inside turn, but Senna forced him off the track and into the armco. Keke Rosberg of Finland, driving his first race in the McLaren-TAG, was vying for the lead in the early laps, but had to retire with a broken turbocharger on lap 7. Rosberg's teammate, defending World Champion Alain Prost of France, alsu suffered an engine failure and had to leave the race at about the midpoint of the race. Both Ferraris, driven by Michele Alboreto and Stefan Johansson, went off the track in mid-race. Senna took the lead from Piquet on lap 19 as the Williams had to pit for a tire change. He did not get to keep it long, though, as he was closely followed by Prost, who had been climbing through the field after starting from the fifth row. Prost built a sizeable lead over Senna, but by lap 27 Piquet had made up for the lost time and retook the lead. Prost immediately pitted for tires, but had to retire two laps later. Piquet made another stop at lap 40, but did not lose the lead, and in fact turned down the turbocharger boost control to preserve fuel late in the race. There was some concern over fuel, as the 1986 regulations reduced the fuel tank size from 220 to 195 litres, but none of the leaders ran out of fuel. THe restriction was intended to reduce engine power output, but it does not appear to have had its desired effect, as most teams were estimated to have some 100 hp more power than last season --- bringing the totall up into the 800 hp range. The pleasant surprise in the race was the strong showing of the French Ligier-Renault team. Jacques Laffite, the oldest driver on the circuit at 42, finished in third place, and his teammate Rene Arnoux finished fourth. After another marginal season in 1985, the Ligiers had qualified 4th and 5th, and appear to be a strong contender for the Constructors' title in 1986. Martin Brundle of Britain finished fifth in a Tyrrell-Renault, and Austrian Gerhard Berger drove his Benetton-BMW to a sixth-place finish for the first-ever World Championship point for the new Benetton team. The Beatrice team did not yet have their new Ford engines, and both Alan Jones and Patrick Tambay retired with mechanical problems. The second Lotus driver, Johnny Dumfries, dispelled at least some of the doubts over his capabilities by driving a strong race albeit finishing ninth. Dumfries was hired by Lotus after Senna, the #1 driver, threatened to quit should Derek Warwick be hired as the other driver. Warwick could have vied with Senna for the top spot on the team, and Senna wanted to be the center of attention for the mechanics and management. It is interesting to note that although Renault withdrew from Grand Prix racing at the end of the 1985 season, Renault-engined cars took four of the six top places, and six of the ten finishers had Renault engines. In the tire wars, the top three finishers were shod with Goodyear tires, but the next three all had Pirellis. Starting grid: -------------- Ayrton Senna (Lotus-Renault) Nelson Piquet (Williams-Honda) Nigel Mansell (Williams-Honda) Rene Arnoux (Ligier-Renault) Jacques Laffite (Ligier-Renault) Michele Alboreto (Ferrari) Keke Rosberg (McLaren-TAG/Porsche) Stefan Johansson (Ferrari) Alain Prost (McLaren-TAG/Porsche) Riccardo Patrese (Brabham-BMW) Johnny Dumfries (Lotus-Renault) Teo Fabi (Benetton-BMW) Race results (61 laps, 10 finishers): ------------------------------------- 1. Nelson Piquet BZ Williams-Honda 1:39:32.583, 184.909 km/h 2. Ayrton Senna BZ Lotus-Renault 1:40:07.410 3. Jacques Laffite F Ligier-Renault 1:40:32.342 4. Rene Arnoux F Ligier-Renault 1:41:01.012 5. Martin Brundle GB Tyrrell-Renault 1:41:08.298 6. Gerhard Berger A Benetton-BMW 60 laps 7. Philippe Streiff F Tyrrell-Renault 60 laps 8. Elio de Angelis I Brabham-BMW 59 laps 9. Johnny Dumfries GB Lotus-Renault 59 laps 10. Teo Fabi I Benetton-BMW 58 laps Drivers' Championship (after 1 race): ------------------------------------- 1. Nelson Piquet BZ 9 2. Ayrton Senna BZ 6 3. Jacques Laffite F 4 4. Rene Arnoux F 3 5. Martin Brundle GB 2 6. Gerhard Berger A 1 Constructors' Championship (after 1 race): ------------------------------------------ 1. Williams-Honda Canon Goodyear 9 2. Ligier-Renault Gitanes Pirelli 7 3. Lotus-Renault John Player Goodyear 6 4. Tyrrell-Renault Data General Goodyear 2 5. Benetton-BMW Benetton Pirelli 1 \tom haapanen / watrose!tohaapanen university of waterloo ..!watmath <-- watmum!tohaapanen \ watlion!tohaapanen I am one in ten, a number on a list I am one in ten, even though I don't exist No-body knows me, though I'm always there A statistical reminder of a world that doesn't care (c) UB40, 1981