The New Boys on the Block-YOU Make the Decision.

[Aerospeed]

Berger should give the team some experience and consistency

Sad that Senna passed on us but I'm glad we have Stefan Bellof

[Julien]

Next year we will be the dynamite surprise team, that's for sure. Either because our two hotshots will get one remarkable result after another, or because they won't be able to find their place and help with the setup and development of the car.

[Collieafc]

Next year we will be the dynamite surprise team, that's for sure. Either because our two hotshots will get one remarkable result after another, or because they won't be able to find their place and help with the setup and development of the car.

In other words, something will be explosive, even if its literal in the case of the car!

[WaffleCat]

1983 New York Grand Prix--Qualifying

PREVIEW
This race almost formed out of thin air,as it was announced quite suddenly when the final 1983 calendar was released. Most claimed that the legal issues will set back the race date for at least a year or two. Others said that it would take too long to develop the required infrastructure. But somehow,they got the job done. The temporary pit building was up,the roads in Flushing Meadow were widened and repaved,and the stage was set for the New York Grand Prix,a tight,twisting 4.1km circuit with a few straights,circling clockwise around the lake in Flushing Meadow Park.

----------------------------------------------------------
QUALIFYING

Code: Select all

1983 New York Grand Prix--Qualifying
 1 Nelson Piquet (Brabham-BMW)       1:38.198
 2 Riccardo Patrese (Brabham-BMW)    1:38.576
 3 Nigel Mansell (Lotus-Renault)     1:38.986
 4 Michele Alboreto (Tyrell-Ford)    1:39.065
 5 Keke Rosberg (Williams-Ford)      1:39.126
 6 Elio de Angelis (Ferrari)         1:39.609
 7 Alain Prost (Renault)             1:39.699
 8 Niki Lauda (McLaren-TAG)          1:39.840
 9 Marc Surer (Arrows-Ford)          1:39.908
10 Patrick Tambay (Ferrari)          1:40.285
11 Jacques Laffite (Renault)         1:40.312
12 Derek Daly (Lotus-Renault)        1:40.990

Code: Select all

13 Derek Warwick (Arrows-Ford)       1:41.055
14 John Watson (McLaren-TAG)         1:41.250
15 Danny Sullivan (Tyrell-Ford)      1:41.593
16 Eddie Cheever (Williams-Ford)     1:41.750
17 Andrea de Cesaris (Alfa Romeo)    1:42.142
18 Rene Arnoux (Alfa Romeo)          1:42.156
19 Teo Fabi (Toleman-Hart)           1:42.563
20 Jean-Pierre Jarier (Ligier-Ford)  1:42.929
21 Mauro Baldi (Ligier-Ford)         1:42.958
22 Stefan Johansson (Spirit-Honda)   1:44.237
23 Martin Brundle (Empire-Hart)      1:44.951
24 Manfred Winklehock (ATS-BMW)      1:45.467
25 Kenny Acheson (RAM-Ford)          1:45.698

Code: Select all

26 Piercarlo Ghinzani (Osella-Alfa)  1:45.894
----------------------DNQ-------------------------
27 Thierry Boutsen (Toleman-Hart)    1:46.715
28 Corrado Fabi (Osella-Alfa)        1:47.099

The track was slippery,as the tarmac was new. The track was tight,despite the widening of it all. Lastly,no one knew about the track layout before free practice. Thus, you don't necessarily have to be an expert on probability or an employee in NASA to know at least a couple incidents will happen.Thierry Boutsen started the madness by clouting the turn 6 wall very early on,ending his entire race weekend as he failed to qualify. Turn 15,on the far side of the lake from the pit lane,caught out several drivers,the most notable of which was Alain Prost,whose momentary off there cost him a lap that could have seen him take pole.Manfred Winlkehock ended his day at turn 22,just after the ampitheatre. And finally,Teo Fabi's miserable qualifying run ended with an electric failure,scaring Nelson Piquet as he negotiated around Fabi at full speed at turn 20.

Despite this,Piquet would go on to take his sixth pole of the season,comfortably ahead of Riccardo Patrese,Nigel Mansell and Michele Alboreto in the Tyrell.Keke Rosberg rounded out the top 5,before the title chase comes into play,with Elio de Angelis starting just ahead of Alain Prost.Niki Lauda had very little room to negotiate his McLaren with the roaring TAG engine shouting behind his head,and only beat Marc Surer in the more nimble Arrows. To round off the top 11 was Patrick Tambay,and finally Jacques Laffite,who would have to squeeze around walls to find some crucial points in the race.
------------------------------------------------------------

[Julien]

This track remembers me to Melbourne, but with several chicanes added... Very bizarre.

[HawkAussie]

It does look like Albert Park

[dr-baker]

This track remembers me to Melbourne, but with several chicanes added... Very bizarre.

It does look like Albert Park

Those were my thoughts exactly.

Nice to see Empire qualify ahead of the last row of the grid.

[pycku]

Hmm, I hoped for young driver and an experienced one, but still Bellof and Berger seem to be a good couple.

[Visconti]

Hmm, I hoped for young driver and an experienced one, but still Bellof and Berger seem to be a good couple.

Bellof doesn't have experience in F1, but he won 3 races in the WSC with Porsche so he has some form of experience with cars in excess of 300kph.

[WaffleCat]

1983 New York Grand Prix--Race

Official Results

Code: Select all

1983 New York Grand Prix (70 Laps)
 1 Nelson Piquet (Brabham-BMW)         2:06:47.109
 2 Riccardo Patrese (Brabham-BMW)      2:06:47.564
 3 Alain Prost (Renault)               2:07:38.764
 4 Elio de Angelis (Ferrari)           2:07:53.929
 5 Patrick Tambay (Ferrari)            2:08:13.275
 6 Michele Alboreto (Tyrell-Ford)           -1 lap

Code: Select all

 7 Danny Sullivan (Tyrell-Ford)             -1 lap
 8 Manfred Winklehock (ATS-BMW)             -1 lap
 9 Eddie Cheever (Williams-Ford)            -1 lap
10 Jean-Pierre Jarier (Ligier-Ford)         -1 lap
11 Keke Rosberg (Williams-Ford)             -1 lap
12 Kenny Acheson (RAM-Ford)                 -1 lap
13 Mauro Baldi (Ligier-Ford)                -1 lap
 - John Watson (McLaren-TAG)            DNF lap 68

Code: Select all

   Teo Fabi (Toleman-Hart)              DNF lap 61
   Niki Lauda (McLaren-TAG)             DNF lap 49
   Stefan Johansson (Spirit-Honda)      DNF lap 47
   Nigel Mansell (Lotus-Renault)        DNF lap 46
   Martin Brundle (Empire-Hart)         DNF lap 40
   Jacques Laffite (Renault)            DNF lap 30
   Derek Daly (Lotus-Renault)           DNF lap 26
   Marc Surer (Arrows-Ford)             DNF lap 21
   Rene Arnoux (Alfa Romeo)             DNF lap 15
   Andrea de Cesaris (Alfa Romeo)       DNF lap 12
   Piercarlo Ghinzani (Osella-Alfa)      DNF lap 3
   Derek Warwick (Arrows-Ford)           DNF lap 2

If only.

If only were the Brabhams as dominant as they were today,F1 Headlines wouldn't have needed to post stories on a title chase involving Brabhams. Because the Brabhams would have sealed both titles by mid-season. They had this urgency about them,to prove that they were key players in Formula One. And did it show here.As soon as the green lights came on,Nelson Piquet and Riccardo Patrese left the field to rot while spicing up the crowd with an exciting,though limited,battle between the two,with Piquet given the win.Patrese cruised home in second just behind Piquet while in hot pursuit,and then the crowd had to wait nearly a minute for the next batch of cars to cross the line.

Alain Prost had stayed back for most of the race,and figured to wait for his competitors to eventually have their scheduled appointment with the traps and barriers along Corona Park. Keke Rosberg had got the jump off the start-though some were calling jump start-and led the field bar the brilliant Brabhams into turn 1.Then a turbo-powered train formed behind the naturally-aspirated steam engine,with the train cars consisting of Prost,Nigel Mansell,Niki Lauda,Elio de Angelis and the exception to the rule,Michele Alboreto in the Tyrell.Rosberg led this train for most of the day,frustrating drivers,teams,cars and spectators alike as he guided the train through the tight New York sections,which had plenty of fast sections but only two real overtaking spots-turns 1 and 16. Eventually,Mansell got sick of the train heading into lap 46,which goes to show how hard it was to overtake and the slick pitwork of Williams to keep the car ahead.He looked for a move into turn 16,on the far side of the pits,but could not get a move in the corner complex.Then,he decided to make his move into turn 20.Bad Call.

Mansell got past Rosberg at the fast kink,only catch Rosberg's front wheels on exit and got pitched into the barrier on the outside at a right angle.Rosberg spun as well,and everyone behind got up in the scrapheap,including Stefan Johansson from thirteenth.Miraculously,only Mansell retired from the race directly from the incident. Prost snaked his way past,de Angelis recovered strongly,Rosberg had to spend a good bit of a minute in the pits to check on damage,and Lauda retired three laps later with a suspension fault. Mansell has been taken to a local hospital ,but there have been no news on his condition thus far. This would be the perfect time for championship leader Jacques Laffite to capitalized on the chaos,except a puncture caused some chaos that forced him to depart from the race after thirty laps.

After the mayhem,Prost finished third,de Angelis fourth and Tambay fifth,pitching de Angelis into the championship lead and giving up a hell of a championship battle going into South Africa,which we will cover in the next issue of F1 Headlines.Michele Alboreto came home sixth in an impressive run for Tyrell,and Danny Sullivan arrived in seventh to try and back up what has been a good start to the season that has gone horribly wrong for the American.Manfred Winklehock finished a decent 8th,ninth was countryman Eddie Cheever who didn't really set the crowd alight bar a pass on Jean-Pierre Jarier at turn 15 on the last lap,demoting Jarier to 10th.Keke Rosberg suffered from several issues during the race after the incident,and almost got overtaken by the RAM of Kenny Acheson,who acutally quailfied for a race for once.

Other retirements include Derek Warwick's Arrows shedding its rear wing after lap 2.Imagine Warwicks's surprise when the Osella garage handed the wing back over ten minutes later.Turns out Piercarlo Ghinzani clobbered the stray wing a lap later that got stuck in his steering,forcing him to retire. Andrea de Cesaris pulled up his Alfa Romeo around the Ampitheatre,and saw his car craned away with much difficulty. Therefore,the look on the marshal's face was mixed with anger,confusion,and general screwiness when teammate Rene Arnoux pulled up at the Ampitheatre to retire his car. Marc Surer and Derek Daly retire within five laps of each other,and Martin Brudnle got punted into the wall by an apologetic Mauro Baldi heading through the tight turn complex at turn 8.After the Mansell incident were the final two retirements,with Teo Fabi clocking the pit wall at the final turn and John Watson's engine expiring from fourth with two laps to go.

But anyway,we have our title picture. Two teams, four drivers,six points. Sixteen Races on the calendar. Fifteen down,one to go. Kylami.
-------------------------------
Driver's Championship(1 Round to Go) (* marks Championship Contender)
1.Elio de Angelis--49*
2.Jacques Laffite--48*
3.Alain Prost--45*
4.Patrick Tambay--43*
5.Nelson Piquet--30
6.Niki Lauda--24
7.Michele Alboreto--22
8.Riccardo Patrese--20
9.John Watson--16(1 win)
10.Eddie Cheever--16(1 2nd)
11.Keke Rosberg--15
12.Derek Daly--9
13.Andrea de Cesaris--8(1 3rd)
14.Danny Sullivan--8(2 4ths)
15.Marc Surer--7
16.Nigel Mansell--5(1 4th)
17.Derek Warwick--5(2 5ths)
18.Rene Arnoux--4
19.Thierry Boutsen--1

Constructor's Championship(1 Round to Go) (* marks Championship Contenders)
1.Renault--93*
2.Ferrari--92*
3.Brabham-BMW--50
4.McLaren-Ford--31(1 win,1 2nd,2 3rds)
5.Williams-Ford--31(1 win,1 2nd,1 3rd)
6.Tyrell-Ford--30
7.Lotus-Renault--14
8.Arrows-Ford--12(1 2nd)
9.Alfa Romeo--12(2 3rds)
10.Toleman-Hart--1
---------------------------------------------

[WaffleCat]

F1 Headlines

Mansell out of season finale

Lotus-Renault driver Nigel Mansell suffered a sprained ankle in his massive crash at the New York Grand Prix. Despite the relative minority of the injury and the fact that Mansell can still drive,he has followed doctors orders not to aggravate the injury,thus he will miss out on the last race of the season,the South African Grand Prix. Geoff Lees,who previously replaced Derek Daly at the team after the latter's shunt in France,will rejoin the team for that one race.

Latest driver news

With the season coming to a close,the driver market is already going into a swing. Toleman,for example,have picked a talent in massive demand,Ayrton Senna,who has already wrapped up the British Formula Three championship in style. Also of note,Empire Racing have already filled their driver lineup to replace the outgoing Brundle,with sportscar ace Stefan Bellof and Formula 2 midfielder Gerhard Berger joining the British outfit. Brundle was taken in by the Arrows squad,who have kept Derek Warwick to partner him in 1984.

In news regarding more major outfits,Williams and Lotus have agreed to exchange drivers,with Derek Daly rejoining the Williams squad and Eddie Cheever making a move to Lotus. However, experts say Cheever's teammate may not be Mansell next year,as insiders say that Mansell is not to happy with how Peter Warr runs the team,and a wide range of teams have been suggested to where Nigel Mansell might be headed,with offers stretching from Renault and Brabham to Tyrell or even Ligier. Mansell has one year left on his contract,though,and may see that out before moving. Finally,as this edition went to press, Brabham have announced that Marc Surer is pairing Nelson Piquet at Brabham,though that could be due to BMW backing than actual skill,though it remains to be seen what Surer can do with a competitive car.
-----------------------------------------------------

9th October,1983

Thomas Travers stepped off the plane to greet a rather blistering heat. It was summer time in South Africa,and the heat was not helping Mr. Travers,who had a layer of jackets to deal with the cold and gloom back in the United Kingdom. Mr. Travers had never experienced such a heat wave despite his occasional holidays,and promptly felt discomfort as he made his way to the hotel. Not exactly how to arrive in style in your final race of your debut year.

Mr. Travers has had an up and down year,with plenty of twists and turns,from the rare top-10 to the occasional DNQ,from rain to shine,but it still did not wipe the smile off Mr. Travers' face. It was an amazing year,and Mr. Travers has enjoyed every millisecond of it.

[WaffleCat]

1983 South African Grand Prix--Qualifying

Results

Code: Select all

1983 South African Grand Prix--Qualifying
 1 John Watson (McLaren-TAG)         1:07.075
 2 Niki Lauda (McLaren-TAG)          1:07.219
 3 Alain Prost (Renault)             1:07.268
 4 Patrick Tambay (Ferrari)          1:07.391
 5 Nelson Piquet (Brabham-BMW)       1:07.496
 6 Riccardo Patrese (Brabham-BMW)    1:07.861
 7 Jacques Laffite (Renault)         1:07.956
 8 Geoff Lees (Lotus-Renault)        1:08.062
 9 Elio de Angelis (Ferrari)         1:08.481
10 Rene Arnoux (Alfa Romeo)          1:08.684
11 Andrea de Cesaris (Alfa Romeo)    1:09.158
12 Keke Rosberg (Williams-Ford)      1:09.202

Code: Select all

13 Teo Fabi (Toleman-Hart)           1:09.865
14 Derek Warwick (Arrows-Ford)       1:09.963
15 Manfred Winklehock (ATS-BMW)      1:10.234
16 Derek Daly (Lotus-Renault)        1:10.548
17 Thierry Boutsen (Toleman-Hart)    1:10.670
18 Jean-Pierre Jarier (Ligier-Ford)  1:11.206
19 Marc Surer (Arrows-Ford)          1:11.341
20 Mauro Baldi (Ligier-Ford)         1:11.455
21 Martin Brundle (Empire-Hart)      1:12.634
22 Eddie Cheever (Williams-Ford)     1:12.829
23 Michele Alboreto (Tyrell-Ford)    1:13.179
24 Kenny Acheson (RAM-Ford)          1:14.110
25 Stefan Johansson (Spirit-Honda)   1:14.310

Code: Select all

26 Piercarlo Ghinzani (Osella-Alfa)  1:14.379
--------------------------DNQ------------------------
27 Danny Sullivan (Tyrell-Ford)      1:14.429
28 Corrado Fabi (Osella-Alfa)        1:15.238

As qualifying for the season finale got underway,it looked like as if the four title contenders would put on an impassioned display in a tough and gruelling fight for pole,taking every risk imaginable around the demanding Kyalami circuit. Instead,we got a McLaren clean sweep,with the might of the TAG engine hauling the lazy McLarens to the front row. They pretty much had the pole in the bag. Heck, Niki Lauda looked as fresh as a daisy as he stepped out of the car,and Watson didn't even try. This was a routine pole position,and a sign of McLaren domination to come. Alain Prost in the Renault ran them pretty close,though,as he battled with Tambay to get the higher position on the grid,which was key for a good result. Next up were the two Brabhams,putting on their usual show in qualifying,followed by Jacques Laffite,who reported brake issues on the Renault that might pose a challenge in the race. Geoff Lees becomes the super-sub for Lotus-Renault,salvaging 8th place. In ninth place was a relatively disappointing Elio de Angelis,who must improve during the race,otherwise his championship hopes could be dashed in an instant. And in tenth place is the Alfa Romeo of Rene Arnoux,a man who has had a torrid season,only finishing thrice the entire year.

Speaking of torrid,all the Naturally-Aspirated teams suffered horrific results,as,with the exceptions of Martin Brundle and Stefan Johansson,everyone from 18th down was in a Naturally-Aspirated car,including the Williams of Eddie Cheever. Finally,Danny Sullivan has shown signs of uderperformance as of late,and his time today shows; he cannot outqualify Piercarlo Ghinzani,who is in an Osella, in a Tyrell.
----------------------------------------------------------------

[wmetcalf68]

1983 South African Grand Prix--Qualifying

Results

Code: Select all

1983 South African Grand Prix--Qualifying
 1 John Watson (McLaren-TAG)         1:07.075
 2 Niki Lauda (McLaren-TAG)          1:07.219
 3 Alain Prost (Renault)             1:07.268
 4 Patrick Tambay (Ferrari)          1:07.391
 5 Nelson Piquet (Brabham-BMW)       1:07.496
 6 Riccardo Patrese (Brabham-BMW)    1:07.861
 7 Jacques Laffite (Renault)         1:07.956
 8 Geoff Lees (Lotus-Renault)        1:08.062
 9 Elio de Angelis (Ferrari)         1:08.481
10 Rene Arnoux (Alfa Romeo)          1:08.684
11 Andrea de Cesaris (Alfa Romeo)    1:09.158
12 Keke Rosberg (Williams-Ford)      1:09.202

Code: Select all

13 Teo Fabi (Toleman-Hart)           1:09.865
14 Derek Warwick (Arrows-Ford)       1:09.963
15 Manfred Winklehock (ATS-BMW)      1:10.234
16 Derek Daly (Lotus-Renault)        1:10.548
17 Thierry Boutsen (Toleman-Hart)    1:10.670
18 Jean-Pierre Jarier (Ligier-Ford)  1:11.206
19 Marc Surer (Arrows-Ford)          1:11.341
20 Mauro Baldi (Ligier-Ford)         1:11.455
21 Martin Brundle (Empire-Hart)      1:12.634
22 Eddie Cheever (Williams-Ford)     1:12.829
23 Michele Alboreto (Tyrell-Ford)    1:13.179
24 Kenny Acheson (RAM-Ford)          1:14.110
25 Stefan Johansson (Spirit-Honda)   1:14.310

Code: Select all

26 Piercarlo Ghinzani (Osella-Alfa)  1:14.379
--------------------------DNQ------------------------
27 Danny Sullivan (Tyrell-Ford)      1:14.429
28 Corrado Fabi (Osella-Alfa)        1:15.238

As qualifying for the season finale got underway,it looked like as if the four title contenders would put on an impassioned display in a tough and gruelling fight for pole,taking every risk imaginable around the demanding Kyalami circuit. Instead,we got a McLaren clean sweep,with the might of the TAG engine hauling the lazy McLarens to the front row. They pretty much had the pole in the bag. Heck, Niki Lauda looked as fresh as a daisy as he stepped out of the car,and Watson didn't even try. This was a routine pole position,and a sign of McLaren domination to come. Alain Prost in the Renault ran them pretty close,though,as he battled with Tambay to get the higher position on the grid,which was key for a good result. Next up were the two Brabhams,putting on their usual show in qualifying,followed by Jacques Laffite,who reported brake issues on the Renault that might pose a challenge in the race. Geoff Lees becomes the super-sub for Lotus-Renault,salvaging 8th place. In ninth place was a relatively disappointing Elio de Angelis,who must improve during the race,otherwise his championship hopes could be dashed in an instant. And in tenth place is the Alfa Romeo of Rene Arnoux,a man who has had a torrid season,only finishing thrice the entire year.

Speaking of torrid,all the Naturally-Aspirated teams suffered horrific results,as,with the exceptions of Martin Brundle and Stefan Johansson,everyone from 18th down was in a Naturally-Aspirated car,including the Williams of Eddie Cheever. Finally,Danny Sullivan has shown signs of uderperformance as of late,and his time today shows; he cannot outqualify Piercarlo Ghinzani,who is in an Osella, in a Tyrell.
----------------------------------------------------------------

Here we go: The final race of the season........

[WaffleCat]

Sorry for the wait,work is taking its toll....but it is here...

South African Grand Prix--Race

Code: Select all

 1983 South African Grand Prix (77 Laps)
 1 Riccardo Patrese (Brabham-BMW)      1:43:24.482
 2 Niki Lauda (McLaren-TAG)            1:43:56.082
 3 Thierry Boutsen (Toleman-Hart)      1:44:01.120
 4 Keke Rosberg (Williams-Ford)        1:44:44.807
 5 Patrick Tambay (Ferrari)                 -1 lap
 6 Manfred Winklehock (ATS-BMW)             -1 lap
 7 Jacques Laffite (Renault)                -1 lap
 8 Teo Fabi (Toleman-Hart)                  -1 lap
 9 Alain Prost (Renault)                    -1 lap
10 Marc Surer (Arrows-Ford)                 -1 lap
11 Derek Daly (Lotus-Renault)              -2 laps
12 Kenny Acheson (RAM-Ford)                -2 laps

Code: Select all

 - Jean-Pierre Jarier (Ligier-Ford)     DNF lap 61
   Elio de Angelis (Ferrari)            DNF lap 56
   Derek Warwick (Arrows-Ford)          DNF lap 53
   Nelson Piquet (Brabham-BMW)          DNF lap 52
   John Watson (McLaren-TAG)            DNF lap 37
   Michele Alboreto (Tyrell-Ford)       DNF lap 32
   Rene Arnoux (Alfa Romeo)             DNF lap 24

Code: Select all

   Eddie Cheever (Williams-Ford)        DNF lap 23
   Martin Brundle (Empire-Hart)         DNF lap 22
   Geoff Lees (Lotus-Renault)           DNF lap 20
   Andrea de Cesaris (Alfa Romeo)       DNF lap 13
   Mauro Baldi (Ligier-Ford)             DNF lap 2
   Piercarlo Ghinzani (Osella-Alfa)      DNF lap 2
   Stefan Johansson (Spirit-Honda)       DNF lap 1

What. A. Finish.

Four drivers had a chance to win the title. Laffite,Prost,Tambay and de Angelis. Tambay was slow from the start of the race,electrical issues plauging him all race long,eventually relegating him a lap down. Laffite had a quick getaway from 7th on the grid,and quickly started to tail behind Prost in 5th,behind his teammate,Piquet,Patrese and Watson. However,further back,Elio de Angelis made a complete mess of his start,and spent the majority of the race charging through the field,cutting past people left and right,and passed Geoff Lees around the outside in an incredible move at Sunset Bend. Theirry Boutsen and Manfred Winklehock were two others who were climbing up through the field like rocketships,to the surprise of many.Further back,shenanigans ensued,as Stefan Johansonn rolled off the start to roll to a halt,Mauro Baldi spun at Leeukop and collected the unfortunate Ghinzani,and Lees, Arrows-bound Brundle,Cheever and Arnoux all retired in the space of five laps. Little did they know,shenanigans would soon shift to the front of the field.

It all kicked off when John Watson retired,creating a smokescreen at The Kink. This caused the two Renaults holding tight in formation to slow right down on the run to Crowthorne,but the smoke cleared as de Angelis passed by,and the gap between them was nought. With just the Brabhams ahead of them,de Angelis started to take it to the French team,trying to pass Laffite. The situation of the championship was if Laffite finished in the points ahead of de Angelis,he would become champion. If one of those two criteria were not met,the title would be de Angelis' for the taking.After pitstops,Laffite was strategically placed ahead of Prost,ahead of de Angelis to give a buffer zone.However,Laffite could only inch away,as de Angelis quickly found a way past Prost and was right back on Laffite's tail in this thrilling battle.

And then Nelson Piquet retired from second. Prost,realizing that should anything happen to Patrese,and that he was leading this trio,he himself could snatch the title. And so,for three laps,three guys started an all-out war,no quarter asked,no quarter given. The fans were loving it. For three whole laps,Jacques Laffite,Elio de Angelis and Alain Prost raced their hearts out.A battle to be kept in the holy video vault like the last laps of last year's Monaco Grand Prix,or Villeneuve vs Arnoux at Dijon 1979,or the torrential conditions at Fuji '76. For three laps,this was the greatest spectacle in motor racing ever.

Alas,it could not last. On the beginning of the fourth lap,with Prost leading the trio,de Angelis attempted a gutsy move down the inside of Laffite at Crowthorne. Laffite went to block,but de Angelis was not giving in,and the two made contact,ramping de Angelis into the back of Prost. All three were in the catch fencing. Laffite escaped quickly,but a catch-fencing pole was caught in his suspension,slowing him down signifacntly and necessitating a long,extra pitstop. Prost had some extreme damage,and needed a pitstop that took an age. de Angelis,meanwhile,was upside down,and although he was okay,he was most certainly out of the race,but not out of the championship.

This left Patrese in a clear position to win,with Niki Lauda second and the surprising Thierry Boutsen far ahead in third place,well beyond Keke Rosberg's reach. However,there was still a championship to be won. Jacques Laffite came back out in fifth,just ahead of Patrick Tambay and Manfred Winklehock,who were having their own little battle for sixth. Then Tambay saw Laffite. Remember what I said earlier? Now that de Angelis was out,Laffite needed to finish IN THE POINTS to win the championship. And Tambay is de Angelis' teammate.So,he promptly took his orders from the Ferrari pitwall: GET HIM.

For several laps,Tambay hounded Laffite,but he realised that he needed Winklehock to get past as well,and could not think of a way to get them both past. Then,on the last lap,leader Riccardo Patrese appeared in his mirrors to lap them. Tambay had a plan. And,from the mouth of Murray Walker himself,here is how it played out:

Here is your leader,Riccardo Patrese,about to lap your new World Champion,Jacques Laffite,at the final bend,Leeukop.Laffite moves wide,kindly letting Patrese through but he has LEFT THE DOOR OPEN! TAMBAY! LAFFITE IS SLOW ON THE EXIT,AND TAMBAY IS JUST CRUISING PAST! AND HE'S TAKEN WINKLEHOCK WITH HIM! Winklehock has got a tow on Tambay,leaving Laffite for DEAD! LAFFITE IS NOT GOING TO FINISH IN THE POINTS! HE IS NOT GOING TO BE WORLD CHAMPION!

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Driver's Championship Final Standings
1.Elio de Angelis--49
2.Jacques Laffite--48
3.Patrick Tambay--45 (2 Wins)
4.Alain Prost--45 (1 Win)
5.Nelson Piquet--30 (2 Wins)
6.Niki Lauda--30 (1 Win)
7.Riccardo Patrese--29
8.Michele Alboreto--22
9.Keke Rosberg--18
10.John Watson--16(1 win)
11.Eddie Cheever--16(1 2nd)
12.Derek Daly--9
13.Andrea de Cesaris--8(1 3rd)
14.Danny Sullivan--8(2 4ths)
15.Marc Surer--7
16.Thierry Boutsen--5 (1 3rd)
17.Nigel Mansell--5(1 4th)
18.Derek Warwick--5(2 5ths)
19.Rene Arnoux--4
20.Manfred Winklehock--1


Constructor's Championship Final Standings
1.Ferrari--94
2.Renault--93
3.Brabham-BMW--59
4.Williams-Ford--34
5.McLaren-Ford--31
6.Tyrell-Ford--30
7.McLaren-TAG--15
8.Lotus-Renault--14
9.Arrows-Ford--12(1 2nd)
10.Alfa Romeo--12(2 3rds)
11.Toleman-Hart--5
12.ATS-BMW--1
--------------------------------------------

[Aerospeed]

Now that's teamwork! Well done from Tambay!

Seems odd, though, that de Angelis took himself out of the race - though it put himself in a bad position for the championship. Prost was very unlucky as well. (Is this technically his first championship challenge? This is before Lauda took Prost by half a point... Oops... Spoiler... Hahah)

Hopefully Bellof and Berger will be able to perform their best next season.

[Julien]

We definitely have to work on reliability a lot. If we can keep up the pace in aero development (with the help of Arrows), pace should be enough to put both cars on the grid, so we could focus on finishing the races.
And now.... Here come nothing! They say that the second season is the toughest of a new F1 team.

[WaffleCat]

17th October, 1983

Thomas Travers got off the plane and was back in Britian. He decided to use up some money he had saved to treat him to an extra night's or two stay in South Africa, and to wish Brundle the very best in his future endeavours, and that their phone number, 090847365, would always remain the same should he want to come back. However, he was back, and it was time to look into the future, to welcome his new signings, Berger and Bellof, into Empire, and to see through the development of their new car. But as he entered the factory, Mr. Travers had one, last, large wham into the past.

It was Brian Hart. He was looking at the engine bay,where all of his engines and parts, be it used or unused, were stocked. There was not a lot of engines, and more than half had been worn out, and one was completely unusable and unworkable, having been slightly charred,but still salvagable for spares and repairs. Hart was looking at them all, 1.5 litre 415Ts in all their glory and shame. He turned to Mr. Travers.

"You sure that you still want to stick with Renault next year?"

"Yep,looks like it" Mr. Travers responded.

Hart was always enthusiastic,but now he looked quite down and disappointed. This was not the Brian Hart Mr. Travers knew. Mr. Travers knew that Hart had a fire in him ,but it seemed that fire had died down and was more of a ice cold water. No enthusiasm whatsoever. And with Toleman also seeking for new engines, that would leave Brian Hart Ltd. with no orders for any more engines. Mr. Travers had to right this situation now.

"Listen, Mr. Hart",he began, "just because you don't have to make engines for Empire or Toleman is looking around does not mean that you're out of it. Look at this. These engines right here may be blown up or underused, but each one has a telling story. Look at this one for example." Mr. Travers motioned to one blackened with soot. "This one tried so hard in the Netherlands. This one made every effort to use every bit of road,but it ripped the gearbox to shreds and combusted externally to boot. But it knows it tried its best. And this specimen here,doing ever so hard to impress in those final races, to make you and I proud,only to dismantle its exhaust in the process in its final race. But it knew that it pushed so hard, even its own body could not contain him."

Hart chuckled. "Yea, I guess so. Gotta give him tougher armour,but look at this beaut. Sure, it DNQ'ed in France, but it did take us to that 6th place in the Race of Champions.As for this...."

And they continued on and on, making their own stories for each engine and their races,and though there was a heated discussion on whether engine #5 was lucky or not in Canada, they had summed up each an every engine perfectly. Mr. Traver's halted the discussion,though, and had something to say.

"Listen,Mr. Hart. You have done wonders with these engines. You took us leaps and bounds. Without you, we wouldn't have turbos, we would not have come sixth in the ROC, we would not have been approached by Arrows, and simply put, we'd be worse than RAM without you. And,besides, Toleman scored a podium already with your engines, and that should drive you further. Keep on developing those engines, keep on pushing younger teams ahead in the sport, and one day you will be the most respected man in that paddock."

Brian Hart simply nodded his head and absorbed everything that Mr. Travers said. And he lit up like a match. He had refound that spark to keep one going in motorsport, no matter what the consequences. He found that spark that made him love motorsport. He found the racer in him to keep pushing, to keep improving, to maintain that fire that motorsport gives to you. And that fire did not stop at all for that brief period in Empire's factory. In fact, that fire was raging, but like most people, he had yet to find it. When he discovered it, Brian Hart kept nurturing that fire that never, ever stopped.

[Aerospeed]

This brought up by the recent news?

I sense Mr. Hart to bring in a team of his own. He hasn't stopped racing yet