haapanen@watdcsu.UUCP (Tom Haapanen [DCS]) (11/04/85)
<...> Results of the Australian Grand Prix: 1. Keke Rosberg (FIN) Williams-Honda 2:00.40.473 2. Jacques Laffite (FRA) Ligier-Renault 2:01:26.603 3. Philippe Streiff (FRA) Ligier-Renault 2:02:09.009 4. Ivan Capelli (ITA) Tyrrell-Renault 1 lap 5. Stefan Johansson (SWE) Ferrari 1 lap 6. Gerhard Berger (AUT) Arrows-BMW 1 lap 7. Huub Rothengatter (NED) Osella-Alfa Romeo 4 laps 8. Pierluigi Martini (ITA) Minardi 4 laps n/c Martin Brundle Tyrrell-Renault 33 laps Final World Championship standings, after 16 races: 1. Alain Prost (FRA) McLaren-TAG/Porsche 73 * 2. Michele Alboreto (ITA) Ferrari 53 3. Keke Rosberg (FIN) Williams-Honda 40 4. Ayrton Senna (BRA) Lotus-Renault 38 5. Elio De Angelis (ITA) Lotus-Renault 33 6. Nigel Mansell (GB) Williams-Honda 31 7. Stefan Johansson (SWE) Ferrari 26 8. Nelson Piquet (BRA) Brabham-BMW 21 9. Jacques Laffite (FRA) Ligier-Renault 16 10.Niki Lauda (AUT) McLaren-TAG/Porsche 14 * Alain Prost is the 1985 World Champion ...and the constructors' standings: 1. McLaren-TAG/Porsche 90 2. Ferrari 82 3. Lotus-Renault 71 Williams-Honda 71 5. Brabham-BMW 26 6. Ligier-Renault 23 7. Renault 16 8. Arrows-BMW 13 The starting grid: 1. Ayrton Senna (BRA) Lotus-Renault 2. Nigel Mansell (GB) Williams-Honda 3. Keke Rosberg (FIN) Williams-Honda 4. Alain Prost (FRA) McLaren-TAG/Porsche 5. Gerhard Berger (AUT) Arrows-BMW 6. Marc Surer (SWI) Brabham-BMW Some details of the race: This may well have been the most exciting F1 race this year. At the start, Alan Jones (starting 18th) stalled on the grid while everyone else got a good start. In the second corner, Senna forces Mansell off the track, and Rosberg slips by both of them. Mansell retired a few laps later with a suspension problem. Brundle went for a long pitstop on second lap, which led to him not being classified at the end of the race. Piquet went out with a flat on lap 14, and meanwhile Alan Jones was making a great show in fron of his home crowd, having climbed up to 9th position. Alas, he retired on lap 20. Meanwhile, at the front, Rosberg had built a comfortable 20-second lead over Senna, but seemed to be slowing down. Eventually, on lap 42, Senna snuck right up to Rosberg's tailpipe, looking for an opening. Unfortunately, Senna was driving with his heart and not his brain (as usual) and on lap 43, as he is trying to force his way past Rosberg, he plows his nosecone into Rosberg's left rear tire. Rosberg pits immediately for tires (since Lauda, in 3rd, is some 40 seconds behind), but Senna keeps driving despite missing the right half of his front wing. The car is obviously uncontrollable, with Senna driving over curbs at almost every corner, and about halfway through the lap he goes off track, drives in the dust behind the grandstand, and comes back on track, minus the remaining front wing! Couple of turns later, Rosberg catches up after his pit stop and passes Senna, waving as he goes by (if you recall, Senna also caused Rosberg to spin and lose a lap in the European GP). Senna finally pits, and in about 25 sec the Lotus mechanics replace the nosecone and the tires. On lap 52, Rosberg pits for tires again, as he had not warmed up the previous set properly, and they had overheated. Senna regains the lead, with Lauda in second. Senna's tires are no better, though, and on lap 57 Lauda takes the lead from him. His last GP is spoiled, however, when his brakes fail and he slides into a corner; Senna is back in the lead, with Rosberg gaining steadily. Three laps later Rosberg is in the lead once again, and soon after Senna blows his engine. Rosberg is now some 40 seconds in front of Laffite, and on lap 70 decides to go for yet another set of rear tires. The rear tires were very prone to wear on all cars, as the Brabham Straight was very bumpy and the rears were just grated away in the hops... Gerhard Berger, driving a good race, is hanging on to 5th position, but Johansson is shadowing him. On lap 77, Berger loses his concentration momentarily, takes a wide turn and Johansson slips by. Berger, likely upset, manages to drive into the tire barrier (sans damage) in overcorrecting his wide turn. Meanwhile, yet another battle between the two Ligiers, as Streiff, driving in his 3rd GP, is tailing the "grand old man of GP", Jacques Laffite. Laffite is obviously getting upset and telling Streiff to stay behind him, but the younger driver takes no heed. On the penultimate lap, Streiff attempts to force his way through, but ends up ramming his left front into Laffite's right rear tire, wrecking his front suspension. You can just imagine Guy Ligier, jumping up and down in the pits at this point! Streiff manages to limp home, though, with the wheel almost falling off. A fine finish for the season, a deserved second win of 1985 for Rosberg, some much-needed success for Equipe Ligier, and the third victory in a row for Williams (how sweet, after all their problems). RAM did not make the trip to Australia, and Osella only sent one car. Next year, who knows? Rosberg is moving to McLaren to replace retired Lauda, and is being replaced by Piquet. Brabham is now in the need of a top driver, and not many are available. Will the find one? Stay tuned for the next episode in the exciting saga of Formula 1... \tom haapanen watmath!watdcsu!haapanen Don't cry, don't do anything No lies, back in the government No tears, party time is here again President Gas is up for president (c) Psychedelic Furs, 1982