1980 United States Grand Prix West
1980 United States Grand Prix West | |||
---|---|---|---|
Race 4 of 14 in the 1980 Formula One season | |||
Race details | |||
Date | March 30, 1980 | ||
Official name | Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach | ||
Location | Long Beach, California | ||
Course | Temporary street course | ||
Course length | 3.251 km (2.02 miles) | ||
Distance | 80 laps, 260.08 km (161.60 miles) | ||
Weather | Sunny and warm with temperatures reaching up to 81 °F (27 °C); wind speeds up to 10.9 miles per hour (17.5 km/h)[1] | ||
Pole position | |||
Driver | Brabham-Ford | ||
Time | 1:17.694 | ||
Fastest lap | |||
Driver | Nelson Piquet | Brabham-Ford | |
Time | 1:19.83 on lap 38 | ||
Podium | |||
First | Brabham-Ford | ||
Second | Arrows-Ford | ||
Third | Fittipaldi-Ford | ||
Lap leaders |
The 1980 United States Grand Prix West (officially the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach[2]) was a Formula One motor race held on March 30, 1980, at Long Beach, California. It was the fourth round of the 1980 Formula One season. The race was the fifth United States Grand Prix West and the sixth street race to be held at Long Beach. The race was held over 80 laps of the 3.251-kilometre circuit for a total race distance of 260 kilometres.
The race was won by Brazilian driver
Summary
In Friday qualifying, Frenchman
The only mis-step of Piquet's weekend came in the Sunday morning warmup when he and Derek Daly collided entering the corner after the pits. The Brabham was vaulted into the air and landed heavily on all four tires, while Daly's Tyrrell went down the escape road. After careful examination, the Brabham crew decided that the car was fine and ready to race.
Entering the first corner Ricardo Zunino, Andretti, Jochen Mass and Jean-Pierre Jarier all made contact under braking. Zunino's Brabham and Andretti's Lotus were unable to continue. After one lap, Piquet led Patrick Depailler, who had gotten by René Arnoux in the hairpin. They were followed by Alan Jones, Bruno Giacomelli, Riccardo Patrese, Carlos Reutemann, Villeneuve and Daly.
On lap 4, Giacomelli lost control of his
While Piquet continued to run unchallenged in front, Depailler was struggling with fading brakes on his Alfa Romeo. On lap 18, Jones caught and passed him on the outside of the hairpin to take second place. Meanwhile, Giacomelli was working his way back up through the field ahead of an extended battle between Regazzoni, Fittipaldi and John Watson. Gilles Villeneuve had managed to get the ill handling Ferrari into a good fourth place but his transmission failed on lap 46 and he was out of the race.
After pitting for tires on lap 47, Giacomelli rejoined in 12th place, just ahead of Jones, but about to be lapped by the
Lap 50 saw a horrific accident which would ultimately end the career of Clay Regazzoni, the brakes on his Ensign N180 car failed on the long start finish straight, unable to reduce speed, he hit the stationary Brabham of Ricardo Zunino which had been left at the run off of the hairpin since lap 1, and then head on into a concrete wall. The accident left him paralyzed from the waist down. Regazzoni later sued the race organisers, but lost the case.[3]
On lap 63, Arnoux had his right rear tire go completely flat, and by the time he was able to make it back to the pits for a replacement, he had dropped all the way to ninth place. Watson now began to challenge Fittipaldi for third, and even get around him briefly, but gearbox troubles allowed the Brazilian to retake the position and then pull away. Watson, in fact, came under fire from Scheckter's Ferrari. Braking into the hairpin, Scheckter tried to go around the outside, as Watson defended the inside line. He slid wide on the dirt and marbles, however, and thereafter, decided to settle for 5th place and his final points in Formula One.
For Piquet, it was the first of 23 career wins and pulled him even with Arnoux in the Drivers' Championship. For Fittipaldi, who finished third behind a steady Patrese in the Arrows, it was his first podium in more than two years, and the last of his F1 career (both as a driver and as a constructor). The torch was passed from one Brazilian multiple World Champion to another.
Classification
Qualifying
Pos | No. | Driver | Constructor | Time | Gap |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 5 | Nelson Piquet | Brabham-Ford | 1:17.694 | - |
2 | 16 | René Arnoux | Renault
|
1:18.689 | + 0.995 |
3 | 22 | Patrick Depailler | Alfa Romeo | 1:18.719 | + 1.025 |
4 | 10 | Jan Lammers | ATS-Ford | 1:18.783 | + 1.089 |
5 | 27 | Alan Jones | Williams-Ford
|
1:18.819 | + 1.125 |
6 | 23 | Bruno Giacomelli | Alfa Romeo | 1:18.924 | + 1.230 |
7 | 28 | Carlos Reutemann | Williams-Ford
|
1:18.964 | + 1.270 |
8 | 29 | Riccardo Patrese | Arrows-Ford | 1:19.071 | + 1.377 |
9 | 25 | Didier Pironi | Ligier-Ford
|
1:19.276 | + 1.582 |
10 | 2 | Gilles Villeneuve | Ferrari | 1:19.285 | + 1.591 |
11 | 15 | Jean-Pierre Jabouille | Renault
|
1:19.316 | + 1.622 |
12 | 3 | Jean-Pierre Jarier | Tyrrell-Ford | 1:19.318 | + 1.624 |
13 | 26 | Jacques Laffite | Ligier-Ford
|
1:19.455 | + 1.88 |
14 | 4 | Derek Daly | Tyrrell-Ford | 1:19.744 | + 2.050 |
15 | 11 | Mario Andretti | Lotus-Ford | 1:19.763 | + 2.069 |
16 | 1 | Jody Scheckter | Ferrari | 1:20.151 | + 2.457 |
17 | 29 | Jochen Mass | Arrows-Ford | 1:20.410 | + 2.716 |
18 | 6 | Ricardo Zunino | Brabham-Ford | 1:20.419 | + 2.725 |
19 | 31 | Eddie Cheever | Osella-Ford | 1:20.808 | + 3.83 |
20 | 12 | Elio de Angelis | Lotus-Ford | 1:20.830 | + 3.114 |
21 | 7 | John Watson | McLaren-Ford | 1:20.868 | + 3.174 |
22 | 21 | Keke Rosberg | Fittipaldi-Ford | 1:20.911 | + 3.217 |
23 | 14 | Clay Regazzoni | Ensign-Ford | 1:20.984 | + 3.290 |
24 | 20 | Emerson Fittipaldi | Fittipaldi-Ford | 1:21.350 | + 3.656 |
25 | 18 | David Kennedy | Shadow-Ford | 1:21.523 | + 3.829 |
26 | 17 | Geoff Lees | Shadow-Ford | 1:23.486 | + 5.792 |
27 | 8 | Stephen South | McLaren-Ford | 1:24.121 | + 6.427 |
Race
Pos | No | Driver | Constructor | Tyre | Laps | Time/Retired | Grid | Points |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 5 | Nelson Piquet | Brabham-Ford | G | 80 | 1:50:18.550 | 1 | 9 |
2 | 29 | Riccardo Patrese | Arrows-Ford | G | 80 | + 49.212 | 8 | 6 |
3 | 20 | Emerson Fittipaldi | Fittipaldi-Ford | G | 80 | + 1:18.563 | 24 | 4 |
4 | 7 | John Watson | McLaren-Ford | G | 79 | + 1 Lap | 21 | 3 |
5 | 1 | Jody Scheckter | Ferrari | M | 79 | + 1 Lap | 16 | 2 |
6 | 25 | Didier Pironi | Ligier-Ford
|
G | 79 | + 1 Lap | 9 | 1 |
7 | 30 | Jochen Mass | Arrows-Ford | G | 79 | + 1 Lap | 17 | |
8 | 4 | Derek Daly | Tyrrell-Ford | G | 79 | + 1 Lap | 14 | |
9 | 16 | René Arnoux | Renault
|
M | 78 | + 2 Laps | 2 | |
10 | 15 | Jean-Pierre Jabouille | Renault
|
M | 71 | + 9 Laps | 11 | |
Ret | 21 | Keke Rosberg | Fittipaldi-Ford | G | 58 | Overheating | 22 | |
Ret | 14 | Clay Regazzoni | Ensign-Ford | G | 50 | Accident | 23 | |
Ret | 27 | Alan Jones | Williams-Ford
|
G | 49 | Collision | 5 | |
Ret | 23 | Bruno Giacomelli | Alfa Romeo | G | 47 | Collision | 6 | |
Ret | 2 | Gilles Villeneuve | Ferrari | M | 46 | Transmission | 10 | |
Ret | 22 | Patrick Depailler | Alfa Romeo | G | 40 | Suspension | 3 | |
Ret | 26 | Jacques Laffite | Ligier-Ford
|
G | 36 | Puncture | 13 | |
Ret | 31 | Eddie Cheever | Osella-Ford | G | 11 | Transmission | 19 | |
Ret | 28 | Carlos Reutemann | Williams-Ford
|
G | 3 | Transmission | 7 | |
Ret | 3 | Jean-Pierre Jarier | Tyrrell-Ford | G | 3 | Accident | 12 | |
Ret | 12 | Elio de Angelis | Lotus-Ford | G | 3 | Accident | 20 | |
Ret | 9 | Jan Lammers | ATS-Ford
|
G | 0 | Transmission | 4 | |
Ret | 11 | Mario Andretti | Lotus-Ford | G | 0 | Accident | 15 | |
Ret | 6 | Ricardo Zunino | Brabham-Ford | G | 0 | Accident | 18 | |
DNQ | 18 | David Kennedy | Shadow-Ford
|
G | ||||
DNQ | 17 | Geoff Lees | Shadow-Ford
|
G | ||||
DNQ | 8 | Stephen South | McLaren-Ford | G | ||||
Championship standings after the race
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- Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.
References
- ^ Weather information for the 1980 United States Grand Prix West at The Old Farmers' Almanac
- ^ "1980 Formula 1 World Championship Programmes". The Programme Covers Project.
- ^ Plaschke, Bill (April 2, 1994). "A Collision With the Past : Paralyzed Regazzoni Returns as Street Racer to Site of Tragedy". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved May 19, 2020.
- ^ "1980 USA West Grand Prix". formula1.com. Archived from the original on February 19, 2014. Retrieved December 23, 2015.
- ^ "1980 United States Grand Prix West - Race Results & History - GP Archive". GPArchive.com. March 30, 1980. Retrieved November 1, 2021.
- ^ a b "United States West 1980 - Championship • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved March 21, 2019.
Further reading
- Rob Walker (July, 1980). "5th United States Grand Prix West: Winner Takes All". Road & Track, 146–151.