Priceless Moments in US GP history

[Gerard]

To commemorate the rich history of the U.S. Grand Prix, a well known creditcard company today announced it will conduct a poll among U.S. sports media to determine the 'Priceless' Moment of the U.S. Grand Prix.
These are the nominations:

1959, Sebring.
Bruce McLaren won the first U.S. Grand Prix, but the drama was provided by Jack Brabham, whose Cooper ran out of gas about a quarter-mile from the finish line. Brabham pushed the car the car uphill to the checkered flag and finished fourth, clinching the world championship.

1961, Watkins Glen.
Innes Ireland gained his only F1 victory and gave Team Lotus its first-ever Grand Prix win as the U.S. Grand Prix found its first real home in the United States in Upstate New York.

1967, Watkins Glen.
Jim Clark held on to win his third U.S. Grand Prix, nursing home his Lotus after a rear suspension piece broke, causing the right rear wheel to sag inward. A 45-second lead over teammate Graham Hill two laps from the end shrank to just six seconds at the checkers.

1968, Watkins Glen.
American Mario Andretti, driving in his first Formula One race, piloted a Lotus to the pole, beating teammate Graham Hill by 0.07-seconds.

1970, Watkins Glen.
Emerson Fittipaldi, a 23-year-old rookie, drove his Lotus to the first victory of his Formula One career in only his fourth start. In doing so, he clinched the championship for teammate Jochen Rindt, who had been killed during practice for the Italian Grand Prix, three races earlier.

1973, Watkins Glen.
Ronnie Peterson's Lotus beat James Hunt's Hesketh March to the flag by 0.688-second, the smallest winning margin in U.S. Grand Prix history.

1976, Long Beach.
Mario Andretti failed to finish the first Grand Prix in Long Beach, won by Clay Regazzoni, but ran into Lotus team owner Colin Chapman at breakfast the next morning and the next season wound up moving to the team with which he would win a world title in 1978.

1977, Long Beach.
Mario Andretti outdueled Niki Lauda and Jody Sheckter to win at Long Beach, becoming the only American driver to win a U.S. Grand Prix. Andretti, driving Colin Chapman's revolutionary Lotus 78 with ground effects to its first win, passed Scheckter under braking, then held off Lauda by 0.773-seconds for his third career win.

1979, Watkins Glen.
Ferrari teammate Jody Scheckter called Gilles Villeneuve mad after the Canadian driver set first-day fast time in the rain by an incredible nine seconds. Villeneuve wound up starting third and running away with the race, beating runner-up Rene Arnoux to the finish by 48 seconds in the rain.

1980, Watkins Glen.
New Formula One world champion Alan Jones fell from second to 14th with an off-course excursion on the first turn of the race, but came back to win the last U.S. Grand Prix in Watkins Glen. It was a grand end to the first championship year for team owner Frank Williams.

1981, Las Vegas.
Nelson Piquet provided the most dramatic moments of the first Grand Prix in Las Vegas, barely staving off heat exhaustion, his head visibly falling from side to side as he drove through the final laps and held onto fifth place. The two points for that finish were just enough to give the Brazilian the world championship by one point over Carlos Reutemann.

1982, Detroit.
In the first race on the tight, 17-turn circuit in downtown Detroit, John Watson sliced through the field, passing three cars on one memorable lap to move from fifth to second, then passing Keke Rosberg to take the lead for good.

1983, Long Beach.
McLaren teammates John Watson and Niki Lauda drove from 22nd and 23rd on the grid, respectively, to finish first and second in the last Long Beach Grand Prix featuring the Formula One series. It was the farthest back from which a modern Grand Prix driver ever came to win a race.

1984, Dallas.
Nigel Mansell hit the wall on the final corner of the one and only Dallas Grand Prix. Illegally, but to the delight of the crowd and despite smothering heat and humidity, the Brit began pushing his car but collapsed in a heap before reaching the finish line. He was scored sixth.

1990, Phoenix.
Ayrton Senna won the race, but only after an exciting duel with Formula One newcomer Jean Alesi. Alesi started fourth on the grid, but leapt into the lead on the first lap and began to pull away. By the time Senna got by pole-winner Gerhard Berger for second, he trailed Alesi by 8.2 seconds. But Senna caught the young Frenchman, nearly got by him on lap 34 and finally did take the lead on the next trip around the downtown street circuit with a great pass.

[Liz]

I predict that one of Mario Andretti's great moments will be the winner. But personally I don't know which I would vote for!

[Jay]

They did the same thing for the Canadian GP, and Gilles' win won.

[EERO]

I vote for 1973, it was magnificent and I was there.
It helped to lift the pall following Cevert's tragic death the day before.

[fastracer]

I would vote for 1979 because it was Gilles at his best

[RussianFriend]

I vote for 1983. It was great break-through.

[Jared]

Nigel ran out of gas at Dallas, 1984. If he hit the wall, how could he have pushed the car?

[angst]

I'm with fastracer on this one - 1979 Gilles made everybody else look like a bunch of nobodies(which I hasten to add, they were not).Truly astounding - 9secs faster than anybody else, it's difficult to comprehend.

[Murph]

I was fortunate enough to attend the USGP's at the Glen from 1972-1980...... The Ronnie-Hunt duel in '73 and Alan Jones run to victory in '80 were great momements...... but nothing I have witnessed in the "flesh" at either the Glen, Mosport Park, Montreal, and Detroit comes even close to Gilles exploits on Friday October 5,1977...... DSJ wrote this in his USGP East report for MOTOR SPORT in the November 1977 issue.

"Then a Ferrari engine started up and we all cocked our ears. When we saw the number 12 splashing its way down the pit lane we all sat up and took notice, for number 12 was Gilles Villeneuve."
"His speed down the hill past the pits was phenomenal and mightily impressive. The flat-12 engine wasa well on song and the streams of water from the tyres were awe-inspiring and he seemed to be going as fast as some people had been going in the dry. What is more, the slope down past the pits leads into a falling-away right-angle bend. If it had been anyone else you would have deemed it foolhardy, but Villeneuve is fast becoming "superman" in the wake of Stirling Moss and Jimmy Clark. He put in a lap of 2 min. 01.437 sec. in the pouring rain, and no matter how good the wet-weather Michelins are or how good the Ferrari is, it was impressive. This sort of thing you cannot see or appreciate by sitting in front of a television set, no matter how good the cameraman is."

Here are the times for the Friday afternoon session. Most drivers didn't even venture out for a lap because of the danger .... though Reutemann and Stuck did go out but came in without a timed lap.....
1) Gilles 2.01:437
2) Scheckter 2.11:089
3) V. Brambilla 2.24.957
4) Jones 2.37.742
5) Lammers 3.10:436
6) Arnoux 3.46.042

As for the race.........
Alan Jones took the pole on saturday (dry) with a 1.35.615. The race started in a drizzle with most drivers on rain tyres (Piquet & Mario were on slicks)... and Gilles rocketed away from his 3rd grid position. By lap 20 the drizzle had stopped at the wide tyres and a strong wind started to dry out the track.... Jones was catching Gilles and passed him on lap 32.... Gilles pitted for slicks (lap 34) and so did Jones on lap 36. Unfortunately for Alan.... the Williams boys had been unable to secure the nut on the right rear wheel and poor Alan's race was over when the wheel came off on his out lap. Gilles had problems with his oil pressure but was able to nurse his car home for a hugely popular victory. He drove the last 10 laps at such a reduced pace that Pironi, de Angelis, and Stuck all were able to unlap themselves.
1; Gilles 1hour 52 min. 17.734 sec
2: Arnoux (Renault) 1hour 53 min. 06.521
3: Pironi (Tyrrell) 1hour 53 min. 10.933
4: de Angelis (Shadow) 1hour 53 min 48.246
5: Stuck (ATS) 1 hour 53 min 58.993
6: Watson (McLaren) 1 lap behind
7: Emmo (Fittipaldi) 5 laps behind

for this "old fart"... the '79 USGP weekend was "priceless"

take care all

Murph

[R]

I would either vote for 1979 and Gilles or Piquet's effort in 81. Both sound astonishing. Wish I could have seen it...

[botsquad]

Vegas 81'and 82' get my vote:


The parking lot of Caesar’s Palace.

Probably the worst circuit in the history of F1.
But could see the entire track from my room at the Flamingo Hilton.

Only in America. As Mr. Don King would say.

[Unknown Soldier]

1979 without a doubt. Even though I never saw this race, I can just picture Gilles driving to the max (and beyond) throwing his Ferrari all over the track in those conditions. Incrediable.

[Dino IV]

I overlooked this interesting topic, with a great post by Murph. Difficult to figure out something like a winner from all those era's but I'd go for The Wet Glen '79 or The Hot Sicilian '90.

But Liz is probably right - the outcome will most likely be Andretti on the Glen '77.

[White Van Man]

I'm not as old as the rest of you () so I can't remember the races most of you talk of. What do I remember ? Alesi vs Senna (and boy, has he eaten out on that race since!) and the debuts of Hakkinen and Jordan with the delicious 191.

[Liz]

I'd vote for anything Gilles did, but Gilles is not an American. A contest commemorating the return of F1 to an American track will honour an American. Guaranteed.

Not that this is a bad thing, as I like Mario and he's done a lot of good stuff.

[Bononi]

I would vote for 79. But 81 was great too.

[Dino IV]

More than 40 Formula One historians and journalists decided Mario Andretti's victory at Long Beach in 1977 was the "MasterCard Priceless Moment of the U.S. Grand Prix."

Andretti's victory at Long Beach, one of twelve in his Formula One career, was selected from among a total of fifteen US Grand Prix moments as nominated by the historians and the media.

With 45 ballots returned, Andretti's 1977 win garnered a total of 129 points - more than twice the point total of the second-place moment, Bruce McLaren's victory at the first US Grand Prix, held in 1959. The selection process awarded five points for first place votes, three points for second and one point for third place votes.

Nigel Mansell's attempt to push his car across the line after crashing in the final corner at Dallas in 1984 claimed the third spot.

This was the fourth time this season that Mastercard carried out this initiative, previously held in Australia, Brazil and Canada.

How predictable ... "40 Formula One historians and journalists" managed to ignore one of Gilles' greatest drives completely. Chapeau bas

[Liz]

Told you so.