Grand Prix Rejects

Bob Sparshott, on the phone to Arturo Merzario wrote:"We have a proposition for you. We're going to approach Freddy Kottulinsky for nine rounds at B&S, and if he takes them then he'll come for us. That includes Brands though.

"We know you were looking forward to having him and his chequebook for Brands, but we will release Luciano Sighinolfi to drive for you, and make up the difference in sponsorship money"

Autosport wrote:Kagan unhappy over Long Beach marshalling
Tyrrell driver Robert Kagan has voiced his concerns over the standard of marshalling at last week's United States Grand Prix West at Long Beach. The 23-year-old Briton endured a generally disappointing race after a lap 1 collision, which dropped him to dead last. However, things almost got much worse for Kagan:
"About 10 laps into the race, Laffite spun and crashed... I think it was coming into the uphill at Toyota corner. He was already out of the car, but suddenly I saw the marshal pulling away that Ligier in the wrong direction and towards me - it was extremely dangerous and I could have been seriously hurt. It wasn't just me, there was another car not far ahead and he also had to avoid the marshal. This is unacceptable and I hope the situation will be improved for next year."

Kagan's engine expired on lap 48 while running in 15th position in a race that was very eventful. Multiple drivers such as Gilles Villeneuve, Jody Scheckter, Didier Pironi and also Kagan's teammate Tom Pryce all lost a potential race win in the final 25 laps.

Kagan remarked: "After my engine blew, I was coming back to the garage when I suddenly saw Tom coming from the other way and asked him what happened, and he said that his gearbox seized as he was building a sizeable gap to Didier [Pironi]. I felt for him, he lost a podium there."

Pryce himself stated that he was obviously quite disappointed with the outcome but was otherwise very happy with his performance.
"Six months ago I was struggling to even qualify into the race for March, but this year I can already say I led a Grand Prix race. I even surprised myself with that qualifying result! It was a shame that my race ended how it did, it was quite gutting for me as it turned out I might have even won the whole thing. Big thanks to the whole team nonetheless, because the Tyrrell 011 is such a joy to drive. We were seriously competitive though, and that's a big promise for the remaining 13 rounds of the season!"

Furthermore, fireworks between Lotus and Ferrari continued after Keke Rosberg was excluded from the race after taking out championship leader Thomas Nurmester.

Autosport wrote:Rosberg exclusion overruled by FISA
FISA President Jean-Marie Balestre has announced that Keke Rosberg's exclusion from the United States West Grand Prix has been overruled, blaming "overzealous" stewards at the Long Beach event.

The decision has been criticized by some in the paddock, namely Bernie Ecclestone, who described the development as "setting a dangerous precedent".

Colin Chapman wrote:Team: Lotus
User: Colin Chapman

G Upgrade: Y
H upgrade: Y
D upgrade: N
M upgrade: N

Autosport wrote:Ecclestone hits out at FISA and Ferrari
Controversy reigned at Long Beach after an incident between Nurmester and Ferrari's Keke Rosberg, Which saw the former eliminated on the spot with the latter retiring with damage several laps later. That later earned Rosberg a DSQ which was subsequently overturned by FISA. Bernie Ecclestone hit out at these incidents in which he believes are delibrate actions from both FISA and Ferrari

"Ferrari say that the incident between Rosberg and Nurmester was just a racing incident, that Rosberg misjudged his braking point for the corner, i don't believe that, instead it was a deliberate move by the team to take the championship leader out of the race, several other cars collided at the same corner all managing to continue with a few dents and scratches. Rosberg rammed the rear of the Lotus and that behaviour has no place on the track, the stewards were right to exclude Rosberg. Overturning that sets a dangerous precedent FISA clearly think it perfectly acceptable to just ram cars out of the way.

Autosport wrote:Last Year of Entrant's Championship
Earlier this week, FISA announced that the International Cup for Formula One Entrants will not be awarded in 1980. The cup was first awarded in 1951 as a competition for the many privateers that made up the backbone of the Formula One grid at the time.

Jean-Marie Balestre, President of FISA, declared that the cup has "run it's course" and was no longer relevant to modern Formula One.

Autosport wrote:Ensign to not qualify ever again?
Ensign had high hopes after a podium place in 1976, but since then, the team has been in a nightmare spiral...
page tear

In De Telegraaf, circa 1979 wrote:Boro shine in their return to competition at the Spanish Grand Prix

The 1979 Spanish Grand Prix, held at Jarama last sunday, was a race of many events. Didier Pironi led early on before his Renault retired, and then the race became a fight between the remaining top runners, with Thomas Nurmester using strategy to overcome the challenge by the two Williams', his team-mate Jody Scheckter - who completed a Lotus one-two - and defending championship Mario Andretti, who retired from the race after an engine failure.

But perhaps the biggest news and surprise of the paddock came from small dutch outfit Boro, who took down giants once again to find themselves back in competition in the midfield after a year stuck at the back of the pack. Italian driver Vittorio Brambilla qualified 18th in the grid - the highest for the team since 1977 - and drove a stellar race to come home in 7th place, 2 laps down on race winner Thomas Nurmester.

The partnership that Boro struck with british manufacturer Lola to produce their 1979 chassis seems to have payed off dividends over the off-season. Bob Hoogenboom, the team's main principal and still-owner, felt emotional after Brambilla crossed the finish line. "It was very emotional. We struggled a lot during last season, and we almost left the sport - but Eric believed in our potential. I'm so happy he trusted in us. Vittorio was fantastic once again out there, he's one of the best drivers in the sport, without a doubt."

Brambilla himself felt really happy with his drive and with how the Lola T400 felt on track. "We knew we had the pace to get a good race, if we got the car to the finish. I made a really good start, and then I knew I had to drive my own race. I struggled with tyre wear towards the end of each stint, but once I saw cars drop around me, I just focused on bringing the car home as there was a chance of points. I'm really happy with this result, it's a proof that I made the right decision to continue with the team for this season.", claimed the italian driver, currently in his 3rd season with the dutch outfit. He's responsible for the team's best result in F1, a 6th place in the 1977 United States West Grand Prix.

Dutch driver Michael Bleekemolen, sadly, didn't make the grid in the second car. Bleekemolen was only half a second off his team-mate during pre-qualifying, but once saturday came, he found himself almost a second and a half off Brambilla's lap-time. 28th fastest in qualifying made sure he failed to make the grid on sunday.

The dutch driver wasn't particularly pleased with his qualifying performance, but took some positives over his return to the sport after 2 years. "Friday the car felt good, and I felt confidence to push. Sadly, on saturday, the track was really slippery, and I just couldn't get the lap together. I'm disappointed with myself and I'm sorry to the team, but there's some positives to take from this weekend. I'm still learning the ropes with the car, so hopefully at Zolder I'll be closer to Vittorio, who drove a brilliant race. Really happy for the team, but I also want to provide my contribution as a thank you to Bob and Rudy [Hoogenboom] for trusting me with this beautiful car!"

Boro's result on their first race of the season sees them climb ahead of Alfa Romeo in the constructor's championship. The next race of the 1979 Formula One World Championship occurs at Circuit Zolder, for the Belgian Grand Prix.

Autosport wrote:Sparshott "realistic" about Jarama DNPQ

Despite the surprise generated in the off-season by the announcement that struggling F1 outfit B&S Fabrications would be building its own "Spartec" chassis, there was little surprise last weekend when it failed to pre-qualify by several seconds, bringing the team in ahead only of the rightfully maligned Dywa outfit.

"We had to be realistic with our expectations for this car," Sparshott explained. "This car wasn't built as a luxury, it was built as a necessity. Not only was our previous chassis no longer legal to run, but the World Entrants Championship simply did not pay enough to continue running the team. We had to use what was at our disposal to continue to compete."

When asked whether that included parts from the March 741s his team used to own, Sparshott's answer was a resounding no. "Absolutely not. It might not look it at the moment, but we are ambitious."

That much is certainly true, with the team also manufacturing the cars for the BMW M1 Procar Championship that supported F1 for the first time at Jarama, as well as entering a two-car team there. "We hope to be able to reinvest the money from building the Procars into a proper effort when the new regulations come in for 1981. That'll be when you see what we can do; these two years are all about turning ourselves into a full-time outfit, even if the results are nothing to write home about."

Guy Ligier wrote:Ugh stupid FOCA merde doesn't want us to enter because those brits think the 100 year war is still going with their Jeanne D'arc complex. I can totally foresee some british new wave band making a song about that..
We got a right to race wherever we like. We're a global team. If FOCA want to retreat to UK races only, guess their way is similar to the Soviet way. We won't have it, we're better than politics. We demand a compensation for not being allowed to run here.

Teddy Mayer wrote:Clearly, Ligier fails to appreciate the need of the smaller manufacturer to protect their interests in Formula One. Especially given the perpetual discrimination by our outfits at the hand of FISA; it is only reasonable that we ensure a fair environment in the prestigious BRDC International Trophy. Even if McLaren do not participate in this event this year, we fully support the endeavours undertaken by FOCA to ensure such fairness.