Английская Википедия:1978 United States Grand Prix West

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Шаблон:Use mdy dates Шаблон:Infobox Grand Prix race report

The 1978 United States Grand Prix West (officially the Long Beach Grand Prix[1]) was a Formula One motor race held on April 2, 1978, at Long Beach, California.

Summary

Carlos Reutemann took over at the halfway mark from Ferrari teammate Gilles Villeneuve, when the Canadian crashed out of the lead, and won by eleven seconds. It was the second American victory for the Argentine, who also won for Brabham at Watkins Glen in 1974. American Mario Andretti finished second to maintain a share of the Championship lead with Reutemann.

At the start of the weekend, though only 22 cars would make the grid, there were 30 entries, requiring a one-hour pre-qualifying session on Friday morning for the eight non-FICA members. From these eight, the fastest four would join the rest of the field in qualifying for one of the 22 starting spots.

Niki Lauda, who had placed his Ferrari on pole for the previous year's race, again set the early pace, this time in a Brabham. Late in the Friday morning session, however, Reutemann suddenly jumped to the top of the sheets with a 1:20.99 and eventually posted the day's best of 1:20.636. As usual at Long Beach, a number of drivers suffered from broken gearboxes, and on Saturday, though the weather was better, no one was able to better Reutemann's time. The first three rows of the final grid were occupied by just three teams, as Villeneuve completed the all-Ferrari front row, Brabham teammates Lauda and John Watson were third and fifth, and the Lotus pair of Andretti and Ronnie Peterson were fourth and sixth.

A beautiful California day and 75,000 paying fans showed up for the race on Sunday. The start had been moved from in front of the pits on Ocean Boulevard to the curving "straight" on Shoreline Drive in order to avoid another first corner tangle. The strategy seemed to work, as everyone got through cleanly, though John Watson's late braking maneuver down the inside caused him to exit wide from the hairpin and force polesitter Reutemann wide with him, so Villeneuve tucked into the lead as they exited.

After one lap, the order was Villeneuve, Watson, Lauda, Reutemann, Andretti, Alan Jones, James Hunt and Peterson. In the lead of a Grand Prix for the first time, Villeneuve was driving superbly, as he began to extend his lead. On lap six, Hunt struck the wall at the apex of the last turn before the pit straight and knocked his right front wheel off. Three laps later, Watson retired from second with a blown engine. Andretti was dropping back in fourth, having chosen the wrong Goodyears and a poor top gear, and Jones was closing on him quickly. On lap 19, the Williams went through and took off after Reutemann.

With Villeneuve's lead at two seconds, Reutemann was pushing Lauda hard for second place. Suddenly, on lap 28, the Brabham went straight on at Turn One, looking as if his brakes had failed. Lauda stopped safely, however, stepped out and removed his helmet. An electrical failure had cut the motor. Meanwhile, Jones had caught up to Reutemann, and the top three were separated by just 2.5 seconds.

On lap 39, just before the halfway point, Villeneuve came up to lap Clay Regazzoni, who was in a battle with Jean-Pierre Jabouille's Renault. Rather than wait until the straight, the Canadian tried to get by in the twisty section leading up to Ocean Boulevard. There simply wasn't room, however, and, when Regazzoni braked earlier than Villeneuve expected, the Ferrari's right front wheel hit the left rear of the Shadow and was launched over the white car into the wall. Fortunately, no one was hurt.

This left Reutemann in the lead, ahead of Jones, then a long gap back to Andretti. Lap after lap, Jones hounded Reutemann, but the Ferrari was too fast down the straight for him to get by. On about lap 47, with Jones still on the Ferrari's tail, the front wings of the Williams strangely flopped down, the result of a fabrication failure. Jones continued to battle, but began losing around a second a lap. Adding to the Aussie's misery, his fuel pressure began fluctuating. His head jerked back and forth as the engine sputtered and, sometimes, cut out entirely. As one car after another passed, the struggling Williams fell all the way to eighth place. Recording the fastest lap of the race on lap 27 and repassing Emerson Fittipaldi on the last lap for seventh place were his only consolations after a spectacular drive.

Reutemann cruised to the finish, maintaining a twelve to fifteen second gap over Andretti, who had a similar cushion over Patrick Depailler in third.

Classification

Pre-qualifying

Pos No Driver Constructor Time Gap
1 36 Шаблон:Flagicon Rolf Stommelen Arrows-Ford 1:23.540
2 35 Шаблон:Flagicon Riccardo Patrese Arrows-Ford 1:23.840 +0.300
3 37 Шаблон:Flagicon Arturo Merzario Merzario-Ford 1:24.729 +1.189
4 30 Шаблон:Flagicon Brett Lunger McLaren-Ford 1:25.076 +1.536
5 32 Шаблон:Flagicon Keke Rosberg Theodore-Ford 1:25.785 +2.245
6 25 Шаблон:Flagicon Héctor Rebaque Lotus-Ford 1:26.128 +2.588
7 39 Шаблон:Flagicon Danny Ongais Shadow-Ford 1:26.150 +2.610
8 24 Шаблон:Flagicon Derek Daly Hesketh-Ford 1:26.615 +3.075

*Positions in red indicate entries that failed to pre-qualify.

Qualifying

Pos No Driver Constructor Time Gap
1 11 Шаблон:Flagicon Carlos Reutemann Ferrari 1:20.636
2 12 Шаблон:Flagicon Gilles Villeneuve Ferrari 1:20.836 +0.200
3 1 Шаблон:Flagicon Niki Lauda Brabham-Alfa Romeo 1:20.937 +0.301
4 5 Шаблон:Flagicon Mario Andretti Lotus-Ford 1:21.188 +0.552
5 2 Шаблон:Flagicon John Watson Brabham-Alfa Romeo 1:21.244 +0.608
6 6 Шаблон:Flagicon Ronnie Peterson Lotus-Ford 1:21.474 +0.838
7 7 Шаблон:Flagicon James Hunt McLaren-Ford 1:21.738 +1.102
8 27 Шаблон:Flagicon Alan Jones Williams-Ford 1:21.935 +1.299
9 35 Шаблон:Flagicon Riccardo Patrese Arrows-Ford 1:22.006 +1.370
10 20 Шаблон:Flagicon Jody Scheckter Wolf-Ford 1:22.163 +1.527
11 8 Шаблон:Flagicon Patrick Tambay McLaren-Ford 1:22.234 +1.598
12 4 Шаблон:Flagicon Patrick Depailler Tyrrell-Ford 1:22.414 +1.778
13 15 Шаблон:Flagicon Jean-Pierre Jabouille Renault 1:22.491 +1.855
14 26 Шаблон:Flagicon Jacques Laffite Ligier-Matra 1:22.630 +1.994
15 14 Шаблон:Flagicon Emerson Fittipaldi Fittipaldi-Ford 1:22.790 +2.154
16 9 Шаблон:Flagicon Jochen Mass ATS-Ford 1:23.106 +2.470
17 19 Шаблон:Flagicon Vittorio Brambilla Surtees-Ford 1:23.212 +2.576
18 36 Шаблон:Flagicon Rolf Stommelen Arrows-Ford 1:23.291 +2.655
19 10 Шаблон:Flagicon Jean-Pierre Jarier ATS-Ford 1:23.419 +2.783
20 17 Шаблон:Flagicon Clay Regazzoni Shadow-Ford 1:23.454 +2.818
21 37 Шаблон:Flagicon Arturo Merzario Merzario-Ford 1:23.589 +2.953
22 18 Шаблон:Flagicon Rupert Keegan Surtees-Ford 1:23.677 +3.041
23 16 Шаблон:Flagicon Hans-Joachim Stuck Shadow-Ford 1:23.733 +3.097
24 3 Шаблон:Flagicon Didier Pironi Tyrrell-Ford 1:23.792 +3.156
25 30 Шаблон:Flagicon Brett Lunger McLaren-Ford 1:23.795 +3.159
26 22 Шаблон:Flagicon Lamberto Leoni Ensign-Ford 1:24.008 +3.372

*Positions in red indicate entries that failed to qualify.

Race

Pos No Driver Constructor Tyre Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 11 Шаблон:Flagicon Carlos Reutemann Ferrari Шаблон:Michelin 80 1:52:01.301 1 9
2 5 Шаблон:Flagicon Mario Andretti Lotus-Ford Шаблон:Goodyear 80 +11.061 secs 4 6
3 4 Шаблон:Flagicon Patrick Depailler Tyrrell-Ford Шаблон:Goodyear 80 +28.951 secs 12 4
4 6 Шаблон:Flagicon Ronnie Peterson Lotus-Ford Шаблон:Goodyear 80 +45.603 secs 6 3
5 26 Шаблон:Flagicon Jacques Laffite Ligier-Matra Шаблон:Goodyear 80 +1:22.884 14 2
6 35 Шаблон:Flagicon Riccardo Patrese Arrows-Ford Шаблон:Goodyear 79 +1 Lap 9 1
7 27 Шаблон:Flagicon Alan Jones Williams-Ford Шаблон:Goodyear 79 +1 Lap 8
8 14 Шаблон:Flagicon Emerson Fittipaldi Fittipaldi-Ford Шаблон:Goodyear 79 +1 Lap 15
9 36 Шаблон:Flagicon Rolf Stommelen Arrows-Ford Шаблон:Goodyear 79 +1 Lap 18
10 17 Шаблон:Flagicon Clay Regazzoni Shadow-Ford Шаблон:Goodyear 79 +1 Lap 20
11 10 Шаблон:Flagicon Jean-Pierre Jarier ATS-Ford Шаблон:Goodyear 75 +5 Laps 19
12 8 Шаблон:Flagicon Patrick Tambay McLaren-Ford Шаблон:Goodyear 74 Accident 11
Ret 20 Шаблон:Flagicon Jody Scheckter Wolf-Ford Шаблон:Goodyear 59 Accident 10
Ret 19 Шаблон:Flagicon Vittorio Brambilla Surtees-Ford Шаблон:Goodyear 50 Transmission 17
Ret 15 Шаблон:Flagicon Jean-Pierre Jabouille Renault Шаблон:Michelin 43 Turbo 13
Ret 12 Шаблон:Flagicon Gilles Villeneuve Ferrari Шаблон:Michelin 38 Accident 2
Ret 1 Шаблон:Flagicon Niki Lauda Brabham-Alfa Romeo Шаблон:Goodyear 27 Ignition 3
Ret 3 Шаблон:Flagicon Didier Pironi Tyrrell-Ford Шаблон:Goodyear 25 Gearbox 22
Ret 37 Шаблон:Flagicon Arturo Merzario Merzario-Ford Шаблон:Goodyear 17 Gearbox 21
Ret 9 Шаблон:Flagicon Jochen Mass ATS-Ford Шаблон:Goodyear 11 Brakes 16
Ret 2 Шаблон:Flagicon John Watson Brabham-Alfa Romeo Шаблон:Goodyear 9 Engine 5
Ret 7 Шаблон:Flagicon James Hunt McLaren-Ford Шаблон:Goodyear 5 Accident 7
DNS 18 Шаблон:Flagicon Rupert Keegan Surtees-Ford Шаблон:Goodyear Practice Accident
DNS 16 Шаблон:Flagicon Hans-Joachim Stuck Shadow-Ford Шаблон:Goodyear Practice Accident
DNQ 30 Шаблон:Flagicon Brett Lunger McLaren-Ford Шаблон:Goodyear
DNQ 22 Шаблон:Flagicon Lamberto Leoni Ensign-Ford Шаблон:Goodyear
DNPQ 32 Шаблон:Flagicon Keke Rosberg Theodore-Ford Шаблон:Goodyear
DNPQ 25 Шаблон:Flagicon Héctor Rebaque Lotus-Ford Шаблон:Goodyear
DNPQ 39 Шаблон:Flagicon Danny Ongais Shadow-Ford Шаблон:Goodyear
DNPQ 24 Шаблон:Flagicon Derek Daly Hesketh-Ford Шаблон:Goodyear
Шаблон:Center

Championship standings after the race

Шаблон:Col-begin Шаблон:Col-2

Drivers' Championship standings
Pos Driver Points
1 Шаблон:Flagicon Carlos Reutemann 18
2 Шаблон:Flagicon Mario Andretti 18
3 Шаблон:Flagicon Ronnie Peterson 14
4 Шаблон:Flagicon Patrick Depailler 14
5 Шаблон:Flagicon Niki Lauda 10
Source:[2]

Шаблон:Col-2

Constructors' Championship standings
Pos Constructor Points
1 Шаблон:Flagicon Lotus-Ford 27
2 Шаблон:Flagicon Ferrari 18
3 Шаблон:Flagicon Tyrrell-Ford 15
4 Шаблон:Flagicon Brabham-Alfa Romeo 14
5 Шаблон:Flagicon Fittipaldi-Ford 6
Source:[2]

Шаблон:Col-end

  • Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.

References

Шаблон:Reflist

Further reading

  • Rob Walker (July, 1978). "3rd United States Grand Prix West: Road Show". Road & Track, 135–140.

Шаблон:F1 race report Шаблон:S-start Шаблон:Succession box Шаблон:S-end

Шаблон:F1GP 70-79