Imola San Marino Grand Prix

[Andrew Rowland]

As is so often the case in Italy at this time of year race day dawned hot and dry and just the faintest of breezes wafting across the village made it bearable for the tens of thousands of fans who flocked to see their Gran Premier. Their, because nowhere on earth apart perhaps from in England are the fans so passionate about seeing their heros and watching their cars.

This year there wasn't to be any Ferrari entries for the Tifosi however they had their 'red' car in the form of a Tecno P123/6 to be driven by Chris Amon.

As the fans arrived the cars began some warm up and climatisation laps. The track was working perfectly with its long smooth straights, punctuated by different corners giving a wonderful flow. All the teams reported being happy with the track and facilities which can be lacking at certIn tracks, particularly in this part of the world.



The season begins with the six cars lining up for their first practice session

During practice all the cars felt reasonably similar, lapping in the high 11 second bracket. Depailler complained of a lack of brakes in his Tyrrell P34 which nevertheless had great acceleration and top end speed. Francois Cevert in his Tyrrell 002 was also having oversteer problems, particularly when braking after the main straight.

Peterson soon settled into a rhythm, throwing his March 721 X around the track it appeared that he was going to be a strong contender as his brakes were working very well.

It wasn't yet entirely clear to the watching crowds but the Tecno felt slightly down on power as it accelerated out of the corners and Chris Amon appeared to be struggling to get power out of that flat 12 cylinder engine designed by the Pederzani brothers.

Lotus appeared calm for once and this was reflected by a report back from Fittipaldi that the 72 felt very stable although perhaps the gearing prevented top end speed on some of the long straights.

Reutemann in his Brabham BT42 appeared smooth and in an interview afterwards revealed that the car was predictable and responsive which perhaps augured well for things to come.

The heat was certainly providing excellent grip throughout the weekend and none of the tyre manufacturers were struggling which made for good close racing.

After practice the cars were scrutineered and weighed. The Tyrrell P34 was found to have a chassis wider than the regulation 18mm which led to Ken rushing up and down the paddock to obtain signatures and handshakes to allow him to enter the car. The race control finally agreed, probably aware of the low race entry numbers and wanting to provide as much spectacle for the huge and expectant crowds as possible. Of course the 10 point deduction was imposed as a penalty at the end of the race.

The weigh bridge (in full race trim with driver and full fuel load) revealed the following:
Tyrrell 002 - 84.8g
Tecno P123/6 - 83.6g
Lotus 72C - 80.2g
Tyrrell P34/2 - 77.3g
March 721X - 74.7g
Brabham BT42 - 68.1g

A 25% weight difference between the Tyrrell 002 and the Brabham raised some eyebrows along the pit wall and began to explain some of the handling differences evident from the practice sessions.

[Chris Wright]

Excellent report so far Andi, allthough the field is small the quality is fantastic.

Please keep us informed.

[Aurora]

Alright, a new series! Thanks for posting Andi. The cars look great, all very distinctive. Looking forward to following the races.

[Andrew Rowland]

Thanks for the support guys, the write ups are all part of creating the atmosphere in this series:



Preparation for the first qualification and the competition begins

Qualification began with Cevert going out to build up confidence in his Tyrrell 002. The format was the fastest lap taken from 1 minute of lapping. About 5 laps were possible in that time. It is possible the weight of the car lent itself to some steady laps and a good flier was achieved on lap 3 giving him 11.436s on the timesheets. This appeared reasonable based on the practice session.

Next out was Reutemann in the Brabham and he settled into a rhythm, making few mistakes and obtaining his best of 11.242s on his fourth lap.

Third out went Peterson who immediately got his car running well and he achieved four full speed flying laps and was the first to dip under the 11 second barrier with a 10.997s lap. Would this be enough for pole everyone wondered?

Fittipaldi then slipped out in his Lotus and again the ease of driving meant that he achieved a 11.133s putting him on the provisional front row. Interestingly the car didn't appear particularly quick, it just flowed around not getting out of shape at any point.

Depailler next in the P34. The driver was complaining of no brakes and certainly the narrow front end was a handicap on this circuit. Everyone wondered whether this technology was a false horizon! Several spins from Depailler as well as oversteering into corners meant that only one flying lap was achieved. Despite this the pace, when the car did get round was good so although the time of 11.575 was fifth fastest it wasn't actually far off the pace.

Finally then Amon took to the track to a tremendous excitement from the crowd. Certainly if it were partisan support that powered the cars the Tecno would have been on pole but sadly it was not to be. A lack of power from the engine combined with the chassis and gearbox weight was certainly handicapping Chris and his best lap was just 13.575s. Generally though it was felt that this size of gap was not representative of the potential race pace.

GPdDFV 2015 round one qualifying results:
Pole position: Ronnie Peterson March 721X - 10.997s
2nd: Emerson Fittipaldi Lotus 72 - 11.133s
3rd: Carlos Reutemann Brabham BT42 - 11.242s
4th: Francois Cevert Tyrrell 002 - 11.436s
5th: Depailler Tyrrell P34 - 11.575s
6th: Chris Amon Tecno P123/6 - 13.575s

Some surprises in there then, it looks like being an interesting race tomorrow.

[Andrew Rowland]

Sunday was hotter than ever and that faint breeze had died so that a humid heat lay right across the track. There wasn't a person present who wasn't drenched in sweat and it was certainly going to be hard for the drivers to keep concentration for the whole race.



- The Grid forms up for the inaugural race. Expectations were running very high for all the team managers and drivers alike. The engineers finally had time to rest after their long trip down to Italy and the crowd were expectant of a major duel.

After the usual parade lap the cars set off in the heat. They soon settled into a rhythm with Reutemann, Peterson and Depailler neck and neck, slip streaming down the long straights and jockeying for position. The six wheel Tyrrell edging ahead each time under acceleration down the straights and then losing out on the corners. The March showed the same strong braking in the corners that it had in qualifying and so would whizz back past the other cars, out braking them. The BT42 instead ran a sort of middle ground, never missing a beat, smoothly running and letting the other two get out of shape here, accelerate wildly there.



- Braking hard for Rivazza. The March proved to have excellent brakes. It wasn't clear who was more surprised, the car's designer Geoff Ferris or Peterson himself. Anyway he put them to good use throughout the weekend.

Further back the qualifying form of the Lotus did not seem to be transferring into race pace with Fittipaldi being passed by Cevert soon after the start. Behind them a silent crowd told everyone that 'their' Tecno was in last place.

By third distance then the order was:
1st Brabham BT42 with a fastest lap of 10.09s
2nd March 721X with a fastest lap of 10.21s
3rd Tyrrell P34 with a fastest lap also of 10.21s

All three were on the same lap but the Brabham had broken free of the other two who were running absolutely together.

4th Two laps down was the Tyrrell 002 with a fastest lap of 10.59s
5th Three laps down was the Lotus 72 with a fastest lap of 10.37s
6th Four laps down was the Tecno 123/6 with a fastest lap of 11.42s

It was interesting to see that the race pace of the Tecno would have been good enough for fourth on the grid as the drivers settled into their rhythm.

The story of the race then begun to unfold as Fittipaldi got his Lotus working well and its overall consistency began to bare fruit. He slowly reeled in Peterson in the March and Depailler in the Tyrrell P34 and traded lap times with the leader Reutemann. At two thirds distance he was still running fourth with a middle third fastest lap of 10.98s.



- Fittipaldi in the Lotus braking hard for the Villneuve corner after exiting the Tamburello. He was never out of shape throughout the whole race.

Depailler having made a start strong enough for second in the running kept that going until two thirds distance. He was by then running a precarious second just ahead of Peterson. Depailler's middle third fastest lap was 11.20s.

Peterson was running in third but his overall performance was still strong and he looked likely to pass Depailler if any mistakes materialised. His middle third fastest lap was 11.15s.

Further back Cevert and Amon traded lap times, running fairly evenly but some way off the front pace with their middle third fastest laps being 11.41 and 11.97s respectively. The weight of their cars was certainly causing them to lag behind the more nimble cars further up the field.



- Amon exiting the Variante Alta before heading down to the Variante Bassa. He was struggling with low power and poor acceleration but he kept on pushing.

That all meant that Reutemann was still out in front, having eased away by two thirds distance. He lay three laps ahead of Fittipaldi. His fastest lap in this part of the race was 10.98s.

Summarised:
1. Brabham BT42
2. Tyrrell P34 - 1.5 laps down
3. March 721X - 1.75 laps down
4. Lotus 72 - 3 laps down
5. Tyrrell 002 - 5 laps down
6. Tecno P123/6 - 7 laps down

As the race moved towards its conclusion Depailler had two spins. Questioned afterwards he revealed that the extreme heat had got to him by that point and it had become difficult to concentrate. The spins left him a disappointed fourth which was little reward for the early pace he had shown.



- Depailler at speed on the straight passes the Traguardo. Quick acceleration and good top speed were let down by no brakes. Mistakes would appear as he struggled to keep it on the track in the corners later in the race.

Post race it was also revealed that he had a broken front lower wishbone on his four wheel steering unit which might have contributed to his lack of handling and off track antics in the last third of the race.

That all dropped him down past Peterson who it seems had become tired after their race long duel and although he kept plugging away he could not get back on terms with Reutemann.

Fittipaldi seemed to find a new lease of life as the fuel load decreased in his Lotus and he managed to make up two laps on Peterson until on the last lap he dived through to take a surprise second place. In fact he was also running quicker than Reutemann himself, making up a lap on the leader. One wonders whether another 10 laps would have seen him back on terms. He found a consistency in the last third of the race that no one else could match.

Cevert dropped away in the final third of the race slowly moving back into the clutches of Amon. They had a good dice at the end for last place, Francois just holding off Chris for fifth.



- Cevert turning into Piratello which proved to be one of the trickier corners throughout the weekend. His Tyrrell suffered from understeer making his progress difficult.

So the tifosi went home without the win they had so desperately wanted and the teams packed up for the short hop over to Monza for next week's Gran Premier d'Italia. Overall as a first outing for all the teams this year it had proved to be a fantastic event.

Final race standings:

1st Reutemann in the Brabham BT42 with a fastest lap in the final third of 10.66s
81 laps
2nd Fittipaldi in the Lotus 72 with a fastest lap in the final third of 10.64s
+2.1 laps
3rd Peterson in the March 721X with a fastest lap in the final third of 10.76s
+2.55 laps
4th Depailler in the Tyrrell P34 with a fastest lap in the final third of 10.66s
+4.45 laps
5th Cevert in the Tyrrell 002 with a fastest lap in the final third of 10.76s
+9.15 laps
6th Amon in the Tecno P123/6 with a fastest lap in the final third of 11.69s
+9.75 laps



- Reutemann drifts calmly through Aque Minerali later in the race. Taking the lead just after one third distance his car never missed a beat.

The GPdDFV 2015 points table:
1. Brabham 50 pts
2. Lotus 44 pts
3. March 40 pts
4. Tyrrell 002 33 pts
5. Tecno 30 pts
6. Tyrrell P34 36-10=26 pts

Based on the results it looks like being a strong series of races. Certainly there are no forgone conclusions with the different characteristics of the cars. Some being fast but tricky to handle and others showing that consistency will win through in the race.

Certainly the Brabham looks strong and the long straights did not suit the Tecno's weight but who knows what can happen as the series evolves.....

[Phil Kalbfell]

Great report Andy good to see this elite event under way.
Just hope I can do the cars and reporting of the Down Under event justice.

[David Mitcham]

Hi Andi

Just back from our week away in Cornwall. Many thanks for a great report and for running the series.

I could say the Tecno's result was true to reality and that's what I intended! Would that it were true. As usual I focussed on the look of the car rather than performance. I'm just hoping it might loosen up as the series progresses.

Best Regards

David

[Andrew Rowland]

Hi David
Great to know you are there!
Well lets all keep our fingers crossed for tomorrow's race and see what develops....

Cheers
Andi