1976 United States Grand Prix West

August 2023 F1 United States United States Grand Prix West 1976 South African Grand Prix 1976 Spanish Grand Prix II United States Grand Prix Westhttps://www.progcovers.com/motor/longbeach760328.jpg 1976 Formula 1 World Championship Programmes 2026-07-09 The Programme Covers Project Circuit Long Beach.png March 28 1976 3 16 Long Beach Street Circuit Temporary street course 2.02 3.251 80 161.60 260.08 70 F C; winds of 15 mph km/hhttp://www.almanac.com/weather/history/CA/Long%20Beach/1976-03-28 Weather information for the "1976 United States Grand Prix West" The Old Farmers' Almanac May 20, 2015 Clay Regazzoni Ferrari 1:23.099 SUI Clay Regazzoni Ferrari 1:23.076 61 SUI Clay Regazzoni Ferrari SUI Niki Lauda Ferrari AUT Patrick Depailler Tyrrell-Ford FRA USW The 1976 United States Grand Prix West was a Formula One motor race held on March 28, 1976, in Long Beach Street Circuit. The race was the third round of the 1976 Formula One season and the first new race to be added to the calendar since the Brazilian and Swedish Grand Prix were added in 1973. It was the second Formula One race held in California, the first being the 1960 United States Grand Prix at Riverside. The race was held over 80 laps of the 3.251-kilometre street circuit for a total race distance of 260 kilometres. The race was won by Swiss driver Clay Regazzoni in a Ferrari 312T by 42 seconds over team mate and championship points leader, Austrian driver Niki Lauda. French driver Patrick Depailler finished third driving a Tyrrell 007. Summary April 2017 thumb|Ronnie Peterson thumb|Tom Pryce thumb|Emerson Fittipaldi Italy was the first country to host two Championship Formula One races in the same year in 1957. The United States would become the second as the first USGP West at Long Beach Street Circuit, appeared on the 1976 F1 calendar, along with the long-standing autumn race at Watkins Glen, New York. The new race's organizers, headed by British businessman and Long Beach resident Chris Pook, could not have done a better job in their attempt to create an 'American Monaco.' A supporting vintage Grand Prix race was held with former champions Juan Manuel Fangio, Denny Hulme, Jack Brabham, as well as Stirling Moss, Carroll Shelby, Rene Dreyfus, Richie Ginther, Innes Ireland and Maurice Trintignant. Dan Gurney and Phil Hill were also in attendance as co-directors of the event.https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/articles/single-seaters/f1/when-fangio-moss-gurney-and-hill-all-went-head-to-head-at-long-beach-76/ When Fangio, Moss, Gurney and Hill all went head-to-head at Long Beach Motor Sport February 6, 2023 When the cars took to the track, the drivers differed in their opinions of the concrete-lined street circuit which featured two hairpins and a long, curving waterfront "straight." Ferrari's reigning World Champion Niki Lauda said the course was much bumpier than Monaco and harder on the car, but easier on the driver. Emerson Fittipaldi said he liked it very much, but Frenchmen Jacques Laffite and Patrick Depailler would not agree. In qualifying, Lauda led first, then James Hunt's McLaren, and finally Clay Regazzoni in the second Ferrari. After spending much of the session with ignition trouble, Depailler made a last-minute bid and slotted his Tyrrell onto the front row in second, less than two-tenths off the Ferrari's pace. The Formula One Constructors' Association had decided to limit the field to twenty starters for safety reasons, because of the narrow concrete canyons necessitated by the street layout, and seven cars failed to qualify. At the start, Regazzoni rocketed away and settled into the lead, ahead of Hunt, Depailler, and teammate Lauda. Exiting the first turn, Vittorio Brambilla squeezed Carlos Reutemann into the wall, putting both cars out. Then, on the curving back "straight" by the harbor, Gunnar Nilsson's Lotus broke its rear suspension and jerked hard into the wall at 160 miles per hour. He emerged with only a stiff neck. On lap four, Hunt was bearing down on Depailler for second place. He tried to slip inside the Tyrrell entering the right-hand hairpin just before the back straight, but Depailler closed the door, forcing Hunt to go around on the left. As they exited the corner side-by-side, Depailler moved across and pushed the McLaren into the barrier. Hunt yanked himself from his car, certain that it was undrivable, and shook his fist at Depailler each time the Frenchman came around. After the race, the McLaren mechanics came to retrieve the car and were able to drive it back to the pits!April 2017 On the same lap, John Watson bumped Laffite's Ligier from behind, breaking the nose on his Penske. Laffite was spun around by the contact and dropped from eighth to fourteenth place. Meanwhile, Lauda made his way by Depailler on lap five and took second place, seven seconds behind Regazzoni, who was beginning to seem untouchable. Mario Andretti had moved from fifteenth on the grid to ninth in the Parnelli VPJ 4B-Ford, including the fastest lap to that point, but was finished when he lost the water in his engine (although he didn't actually stop until lap 15 when the engine had completely cooked). This would be the last race for the American Vel's-Parnelli car. Over three seasons, it competed in 16 races, with Mario the car's only driver. Upon retiring from the race in Long Beach, Andretti was approached by a television reporter in the pits, asking, "How about this being your last race in Formula One?" Andretti replied, "What are you talking about?" The reporter said, "That's what Vel (Miletich) told me." Andretti said, "It may have been his last Grand Prix, but it won't be mine." Andretti terminated his relationship with Miletich and Parnelli Jones that day, but the next morning, by accident, joined Lotus team manager Colin Chapman for breakfast in a Long Beach coffee shop, where the two forged an agreement. By the next season, with Andretti driving Chapman's revolutionary Lotus 78, the two were winning races together and, of course, in 1978, captured the World Championship.April 2017 At about the same time as Andretti's retirement from the race, Depailler spun and dropped from third to seventh, and after 20 laps, Regazzoni led by 13 seconds over Lauda, Jody Scheckter and Tom Pryce in the Shadow. Depailler, furious over his mistake, was storming back up the line as he got by Jean-Pierre Jarier and Ronnie Peterson within six laps. When Pryce broke a driveshaft on lap 33 and Scheckter had a front wishbone snap on lap 34, Depailler was back in third place, behind the two Ferraris. After his incident with Watson, Laffite had driven brilliantly in just the third race for the new Matra-powered Ligier. He passed Jochen Mass on lap 45, and Jarier on lap 46 to take over fourth place. With 20 laps to go, Lauda was having trouble selecting gears and decided to try to nurse the car home rather than make a run at Regazzoni. Jarier had dropped to sixth behind Mass, also with gearbox trouble. Then, on the next to last lap, with only first and fifth gears left, he was also overtaken by Fittipaldi, who scored the first Championship point for his own Copersucar team. Regazzoni took an easy win, the fourth of his career, completing the grand chelem of pole position, fastest lap, victory, and leading every lap. Lauda successfully brought his ailing car home second, 42 seconds back, and Depailler completed a fine recovery from his spin by taking third. The first USGP West was a success. Indeed, former team manager Rob Walker said, "I think the creation of the Long Beach GP was the greatest achievement in motor racing this decade". Classification Qualifying Pos. No. Driver Constructor Time/Gap 1 2 SUI Clay Regazzoni Ferrari 1:23.099 2 4 FRA Patrick Depailler Tyrrell–Ford +0.193 3 11 GBR James Hunt McLaren–Ford +0.321 4 1 AUT Niki Lauda Ferrari +0.548 5 16 GBR Tom Pryce Shadow–Ford +0.578 6 10 SWE Ronnie Peterson March–Ford +1.058 7 17 FRA Jean-Pierre Jarier Shadow–Ford +1.064 8 9 ITA Vittorio Brambilla March–Ford +1.069 9 28 GBR John Watson Penske–Ford +1.071 10 7 ARG Carlos Reutemann Brabham–Alfa Romeo +1.166 11 3 RSA 1928 Jody Scheckter Tyrrell–Ford +1.245 12 26 FRA Jacques Laffite Ligier–Matra +1.343 13 8 BRA Carlos Pace Brabham–Alfa Romeo +1.373 14 12 FRG Jochen Mass McLaren–Ford +1.442 15 27 USA Mario Andretti Parnelli–Ford +1.467 16 30 BRA Emerson Fittipaldi Fittipaldi–Ford +1.680 17 22 NZL Chris Amon Ensign–Ford +1.704 18 34 FRG Hans-Joachim Stuck March–Ford +2.023 19 19 AUS Alan Jones Surtees–Ford +2.115 20 6 SWE Gunnar Nilsson Lotus–Ford +2.178 21 21 FRA Michel Leclère* Wolf-Williams–Ford +2.337 22 31 BRA Ingo Hoffmann* Fittipaldi–Ford +2.458 23 35 ITA Arturo Merzario* March–Ford +2.638 24 5 GBR Bob Evans* Lotus–Ford +2.791 25 20 BEL Jacky Ickx* Wolf-Williams–Ford +3.429 26 24 AUT Harald Ertl* Hesketh–Ford +3.725 27 18 USA Brett Lunger* Surtees–Ford +3.729 Source:https://results.motorsportstats.com/results/1976-united-states-grand-prix-west/classification/c66976f7-e356-4cfb-8ddb-b9f5173e3f6e Formula One 1976 United States Grand Prix West Classification | Motorsport Stats *Driver failed to qualify Race Pos No Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points 1 2 Switzerland Clay Regazzoni Ferrari 80 1:53:18.471 1 9 2 1 Austria Niki Lauda Ferrari 80 +42.414 4 6 3 4 France Patrick Depailler Tyrrell-Ford 80 +49.972 2 4 4 26 France Jacques Laffite Ligier-Matra 80 +1:12.828 12 3 5 12 West Germany Jochen Mass McLaren-Ford 80 +1:22.292 14 2 6 30 Brazil Emerson Fittipaldi Fittipaldi-Ford 79 +1 lap 16 1 7 17 France Jean-Pierre Jarier Shadow-Ford 79 +1 lap 7   8 22 New Zealand Chris Amon Ensign-Ford 78 +2 laps 17   9 8 Brazil Carlos Pace Brabham-Alfa Romeo 77 +3 laps 13   10 10 Sweden Ronnie Peterson March-Ford 77 +3 laps 6   NC Not classified 19 Australia Alan Jones Surtees-Ford 70 +10 laps 19   NC Not classified 28 UK John Watson Penske-Ford 69 +11 laps 9   Ret Retired 3 South Africa 1928 Jody Scheckter Tyrrell-Ford 34 Suspension 11   Ret Retired 16 UK Tom Pryce Shadow-Ford 32 Halfshaft 5   Ret Retired 27 USA Mario Andretti Parnelli-Ford 15 Water leak 15   Ret Retired 11 UK James Hunt McLaren-Ford 3 Accident 3   Ret Retired 34 West Germany Hans Joachim Stuck March-Ford 2 Accident 18   Ret Retired 9 Italy Vittorio Brambilla March-Ford 0 Collision 8   Ret Retired 7 Argentina Carlos Reutemann Brabham-Alfa Romeo 0 Collision 10   Ret Retired 6 Sweden Gunnar Nilsson Lotus-Ford 0 Suspension 20   DNQ Did not qualify 21 France Michel Leclère Wolf-Williams-Ford       DNQ Did not qualify 31 Brazil Ingo Hoffmann Fittipaldi-Ford       DNQ Did not qualify 35 Italy Arturo Merzario March-Ford       DNQ Did not qualify 5 UK Bob Evans Lotus-Ford       DNQ Did not qualify 20 Belgium Jacky Ickx Wolf-Williams-Ford       DNQ Did not qualify 24 Austria Harald Ertl Hesketh-Ford       DNQ Did not qualify 18 USA Brett Lunger Surtees-Ford      Source:http://www.formula1.com/results/season/1976/444/ 1976 USA West Grand Prix formula1.com 23 December 2015 https://web.archive.org/web/20141210063222/http://www.formula1.com/results/season/1976/444/ 10 December 2014 Championship standings after the race Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 10px 1 AUT Niki Lauda 24 10px 2 FRA Patrick Depailler 10 10px 6 3 SUI Clay Regazzoni 9 10px 4 GER Jochen Mass 7 10px 2 5 UK James Hunt 6Source:https://www.statsf1.com/en/1976/etats-unis-ouest/championnat.aspx United States West 1976 - Championship • STATS F1 www.statsf1.com 21 March 2019 Constructors' Championship standings Pos Constructor Points 10px 1 ITA Ferrari 27 10px 2 UK Tyrrell-Ford 13 10px 3 UK McLaren-Ford 9 10px 4 UK Shadow-Ford 4 10px 5 UK March-Ford 3Source: Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings. References 30em Further reading Doug Nye (1978). The United States Grand Prix and Grand Prize Races, 1908-1977. B. T. Batsford. 0-7134-1263-1 Rob Walker (July, 1976). "1st United States Grand Prix West: Regga Runs Away". Road & Track, 78-82. United States Grand Prix West 1976 1976 South African Grand Prix 1976 Spanish Grand Prix None 1977 United States Grand Prix West 1975 Monaco Grand Prix 1977 British Grand Prix 1975 Long Beach Grand Prix 1977 United States Grand Prix West Grand Prix of Long Beach United States Grand Prix West Category:United States Grand Prix West United States Grand Prix West United States Grand Prix West