1979 Race of Champions

NC United Kingdom Race of Champions 1979 4 15 yes 1979 File:Brands Hatch 1976-1987.svg Brands Hatch Grand Prix Circuit, Fawkham, Kent, England Permanent racing facility 2.6136 4.206 40 104.544 168.24 Warm, dry Mario Andretti United States Lotus-Ford 1:17.52 Nelson Piquet Brabham-Alfa Romeo 1:17.46 Brazil 1968 Gilles Villeneuve Canada Ferrari Nelson Piquet Brazil 1968 Brabham-Alfa Romeo Mario Andretti United States Lotus-Ford The 1979 Race of Champions was a Formula One non-championship motor race held at Brands Hatch, United Kingdom on 15 April 1979. The field was made up of seven Formula One cars that competed in the World championship while the rest of the field usually competed in the Aurora series. Race summary Brabham had brought two brand new BT48s onto the circuit. Another new car introduced was the Lotus 80, but Mario Andretti only used it in qualifying. Ferrari's Gilles Villeneuve drove a slightly modified 1978 Ferrari 312 T3 instead of the new 312 T4. At the start Niki Lauda got away well from the front row and quickly pulled a lead of a few seconds, while the pole sitter Mario Andretti was dropped down to third. Gilles Villeneuve was second, followed closely by Andretti and Nelson Piquet. By lap eight the chasing three drivers had caught Lauda and they were going nose to tail. But that didn't last for long, as Lauda had to pit at the end of the eight lap, but he was able to rejoin rather quickly. Villeneuve took over the lead, only to lose it a few laps later as he ran wide at the exit of Hawthorn corner. Andretti moved into the lead in his Lotus 79. On lap 11 Piquet was also forced to pit in, so the leading battle was between Andretti and Villeneuve, while Jochen Mass in the Arrows had taken advantage of the pitstops and moved up to third place. The positions in the front of the field remained the same for the next 12 laps. Andretti's lead was up to four seconds after Villeneuve's mistake, but the Canadian closed the gap slowly but surely. By lap 26 Villeneuve was all over the back of Andretti and a few laps later took the inside line into Paddock Hill bend and retook the lead. Andretti had no answer to Villeneuve's pace and the gap increased rapidly. Piquet had moved ahead of Mass into third and his team mate Lauda, who had pitted twice, was fifth. A few laps from the end Piquet overtook the slowing Andretti as well. But in the end it was Villeneuve who crossed the line first, lapping everyone up to the fourth place man. Classification Qualifying Pos. No. Driver Constructor Time Gap 1 1 USA Mario Andretti Lotus-Ford 1:17.52 — 2 5 Austria Niki Lauda Brabham-Alfa Romeo 1:17.76 +0.24 3 12 Canada Gilles Villeneuve Ferrari 1:17.85 +0.33 4 6 Brazil 1968 Nelson Piquet Brabham-Alfa Romeo 1:17.98 +0.46 5 30 FRG Jochen Mass Arrows-Ford 1:18.93 +1.41 6 18 Italy Elio de Angelis Shadow-Ford 1:19.57 +2.05 7 7 UK John Watson McLaren-Ford 1:20.30 +2.78 8 56 UK Rupert Keegan Arrows-Ford 1:20.65 +3.13 9 41 South Africa 1928 Desiré Wilson Tyrrell-Ford 1:20.80 +3.28 10 44 UK Guy Edwards Fittipaldi-Ford 1:20.90 +3.38 11 43 Spain 1977 Emilio de Villota Lotus-Ford 1:21.67 +4.15 12 51 IRL David Kennedy Wolf-Ford 1:22.35 +4.83 13 52 UK Philip Bullman Surtees-Ford 1:22.41 +4.89 14 46 UK Tiff Needell Chevron-Ford 1:22.50 +4.98 15 49 ITA Giacomo Agostini Williams-Ford 1:22.60 +5.08 16 42 USA Gordon Smiley Tyrrell-Ford 1:23.20 +5.68 17 45 BEL Bernard de Dryver Fittipaldi-Ford 1:23.44 +5.92 18 47 UK Val Musetti March-Ford 1:25.61 +8.09 19 63 UK Robin Smith Ensign-Ford 1:26.37 +8.85 DNQ 62 AUT Gerd Biechteler March-Ford - -Source:https://gparchive.com/formula-1/1979-race-of-champions/ 1979 Race of Champions - Race Results & History - GP Archive GPArchive.com 15 April 1979 14 February 2021 A bright yellow background represents as Aurora AFX British F1 cars. Race Pos. Position Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid 1 Canada Gilles Villeneuve Ferrari 40 53:17.12 3 2 Brazil 1968 Nelson Piquet Brabham-Alfa Romeo 40 + 14.07 4 3 USA Mario Andretti Lotus-Ford 40 + 23.17 1 4 FRG Jochen Mass Arrows-Ford 40 + 40.76 5 5 Austria Niki Lauda Brabham-Alfa Romeo 39 + 1 Lap 2 6 Italy Elio de Angelis Shadow-Ford 39 + 1 Lap 6 7 UK Guy Edwards Fittipaldi-Ford 39 + 1 Lap 11 8 BEL Bernard de Dryver Fittipaldi-Ford 38 + 2 Laps 18 9 South Africa 1928 Desiré Wilson Tyrrell-Ford 38 + 2 Laps 10 10 USA Gordon Smiley Tyrrell-Ford 38 + 2 Laps 17 11 ITA Giacomo Agostini Williams-Ford 38 + 2 Laps 16 12 UK Val Musetti March-Ford 36 + 4 Laps 19 13 UK Robin Smith Ensign-Ford 36 + 4 Laps 20 Ret UK Rupert Keegan Arrows-Ford 35 Engine 9 Ret Spain 1977 Emilio de Villota Lotus-Ford 34 Engine 12 Ret UK Philip Bullman Surtees-Ford 24 Spun off 14 Ret UK John Watson McLaren-Ford 18 Gearbox 7 Ret UK Tiff Needell Chevron-Ford 16 Accident 15 DNS IRL David Kennedy Wolf-Ford Gearbox 13 DNQ AUT Gerd Biechteler March-Ford Notes Pole position: Mario Andretti – 1:17.52 Fastest lap: Nelson Piquet – 1:17.46 References Formula One World http://www.motorsport-stats.com/f1/history/1979/roc.html 1 February 2008 Race of Champions 1979 1978 BRDC International Trophy 1979 Dino Ferrari Grand Prix 1977 Race of Champions 1983 Race of Champions Category:Race of Champions (Brands Hatch) Race of Champions Race of Champions Race of Champions