Post by Andrew Rowland on Feb 12, 2016 16:17:51 GMT -5
The final race of the 2015 GPdDFV took place in the Richmond Park circuit in London as the European Grand Prix.
The circuit was cold and dusty on the Friday morning when practice started and the lack of grip that all the drivers complained about was reflected in the lap times.
The cars had all been well serviced by their mechanics and none more so than the March 721X which had had a complete rebuild of the chassis following the discovery that it was cracked in two places. It seems Peterson’s season of problems were justified to some extent.
Practice was fairly uneventful except that it became obvious that the Tyrrell 002 of Cevert was fundamentally lacking grip from his tyres. Peterson was tearing the Park up and scaring the deer!
Reutemann’s Brabham BT42 was making some resonanting noises and on closer inspection the mechanics reported that the gears had run in so much over the course of the season (the car had also run several non championship races at the Wolves weekened) that there was now a considerable amount of backlash which reduced the confidence the driver had in this hitherto metronomic racer.
On day two the sun came beaming through the clouds and warmed the track sufficiently for the drivers to begin lowering the lap times. The cars went out individually for a maximum of 20 laps in the order of the current championship standings.
Reutemann was still struggling with his lose gearbox as his mechanics had not had time to rebuild it overnight. He took his Brabham BT42 round in 5.61s.
Next out was Peterson in his March who despite feeling comfortable in the short wheelbase car didn’t manage to hook up a good lap and finished with a best of 5.51s.
Third out was Fittipaldi in his Lotus 72 which was running very smoothly. He and Peterson were fighting for second in the championships so he was making every effort he could. He put in a consistent run to get a 5.27s lap on the charts. This was an indoication of how much the circuit had improved formt he day before when anything below 6s was considered acceptable.
Amon exited the pits next but his run of form in the last race and concourse result looked about to be for nothing. His Tecno just wasn’t handling well with insufficient grip. He managed a 6.07s lap.
That was nothing compared to the woes of Cevert in his Tyrrell 002 however. His tyres were just too hard comound on the slippery surface and he could only slither round for a 6.71s lap.
Hulme came out in his Mclaren hoping to get a good finish to the season. His car was smooth if a little heavy on the twisty circuit. He put in some good laps and finished on a 5.44s lap.
Next out was Depailler in the Tyrrell P34. Always a tricky one to drive with that narrow front end he was weaving down the straights and everyone could see the rear end flicking out every time he applied the brakes before the corners. He put in a respectable 5.94s.
Finally Walker’s Lotus 56B came out. He had got it running well and his narrower rear tyres seeme to be helping him get the balance right. He managed a 5.31s lap locking out an all Lotus front row.
So the race grid will be:
1st Lotus 72
2nd Lotus 56B
3rd Mclaren
4th March 721X
5th Brabham BT42
6th Tyrrell P34
7th Tecno PA123/6
8th Tyrrell 002
The circuit was cold and dusty on the Friday morning when practice started and the lack of grip that all the drivers complained about was reflected in the lap times.
The cars had all been well serviced by their mechanics and none more so than the March 721X which had had a complete rebuild of the chassis following the discovery that it was cracked in two places. It seems Peterson’s season of problems were justified to some extent.
Practice was fairly uneventful except that it became obvious that the Tyrrell 002 of Cevert was fundamentally lacking grip from his tyres. Peterson was tearing the Park up and scaring the deer!
Reutemann’s Brabham BT42 was making some resonanting noises and on closer inspection the mechanics reported that the gears had run in so much over the course of the season (the car had also run several non championship races at the Wolves weekened) that there was now a considerable amount of backlash which reduced the confidence the driver had in this hitherto metronomic racer.
On day two the sun came beaming through the clouds and warmed the track sufficiently for the drivers to begin lowering the lap times. The cars went out individually for a maximum of 20 laps in the order of the current championship standings.
Reutemann was still struggling with his lose gearbox as his mechanics had not had time to rebuild it overnight. He took his Brabham BT42 round in 5.61s.
Next out was Peterson in his March who despite feeling comfortable in the short wheelbase car didn’t manage to hook up a good lap and finished with a best of 5.51s.
Third out was Fittipaldi in his Lotus 72 which was running very smoothly. He and Peterson were fighting for second in the championships so he was making every effort he could. He put in a consistent run to get a 5.27s lap on the charts. This was an indoication of how much the circuit had improved formt he day before when anything below 6s was considered acceptable.
Amon exited the pits next but his run of form in the last race and concourse result looked about to be for nothing. His Tecno just wasn’t handling well with insufficient grip. He managed a 6.07s lap.
That was nothing compared to the woes of Cevert in his Tyrrell 002 however. His tyres were just too hard comound on the slippery surface and he could only slither round for a 6.71s lap.
Hulme came out in his Mclaren hoping to get a good finish to the season. His car was smooth if a little heavy on the twisty circuit. He put in some good laps and finished on a 5.44s lap.
Next out was Depailler in the Tyrrell P34. Always a tricky one to drive with that narrow front end he was weaving down the straights and everyone could see the rear end flicking out every time he applied the brakes before the corners. He put in a respectable 5.94s.
Finally Walker’s Lotus 56B came out. He had got it running well and his narrower rear tyres seeme to be helping him get the balance right. He managed a 5.31s lap locking out an all Lotus front row.
So the race grid will be:
1st Lotus 72
2nd Lotus 56B
3rd Mclaren
4th March 721X
5th Brabham BT42
6th Tyrrell P34
7th Tecno PA123/6
8th Tyrrell 002
