Apologies for the delay with the report, but the sheer volume of events in the past race have made putting this together rather daunting.
PRE-QUALIFYING REPORTPre-qualifying saw a host of mechanical issues befall competitors, resulting in many drivers failing to set times. Only five teams saw both of their drivers record timed laps. However, this was overshadowed by the horrific crash suffered by Max Speed at the fast left-hander before
Six Frères, tearing his car in two and knocking the American unconscious. With Speed having sustained a concussion just twelve days prior at Imola, a violent head injury was the last thing he needed. Because Shota Kakhaberidze was unable to get his car fired up in time to set a timed lap, Blockton Impact failed to pre-qualify.
- Reception Carrot Team: 4:00.678
- Great Leap Backward: 4:00.716
- Racing Team of Friendship Socialist Countries: 4:01.002
- Euskadi Lasterketa: 4:01.060
- Dickenson-Lightley: 4:01.517
- Motorsports de Boulangerie Cochon Rose: 2:00.231
- Macchina Automobili Giorgio Armani: 2:00.735
- DYWA-HARD: 2:00.847
- Bambini di San Marino: 2:01.221
- Latin Auto Technology Enterprises: 2:01.961
- Scuderia Verona: 2:03.270
- Order of Racing: 2:03.958
- Automotive SuperSport: 2:04.855
- Blockton Impact: No time (DNPQ)
QUALIFYING REPORTJacques Clouseau broke Leopoldo Faraldo's monopoly on pole positions with his own first career pole; meanwhile Faraldo had a disastrous quali, ending up all the way down in 21st place. For the second race in a row, both Automotive SuperSport drivers failed to qualify, while P26 was once again occupied by Barry McKockiner. The real surprise was Ouragan achieving a career-high P4 in qualifying, taking him all the way to the outside of the second row.
RACE REPORTOff the start, Ouragan made an excellent getaway to briefly lead; however the first few laps of the race were marred by a series of very violent accidents. On the second lap, Giuseppe Gasperoni spun off coming out of
Courbe de l'Étoile and hit the inside walls at a less than ideal angle. Paul Pott, having gone off as a result of a crash by Amada Castellón was T-boned by Leopoldo Faraldo; all three drivers would be subsequently taken to hosptial. True horror struck on the fourth lap, when Jehan Duchamps crashed heavily at the second turn in comparable fashion to Max Speed on Friday, only to be collected by Karl Gustav Schneider, who was unable to evade the stricken car. In many ways, the incident was a more severe version of what had happened to Lena Troscchi in almost identical circumstances at the very same corner the previous year.
The race would be dominated for the most part by Amalure Arrigorriagakoa, whose pace the rest of the field seemed to be unable to match but on the penultimate lap, her engine blew up in fiery fashion, gifting the win to Jacques Clouseau. Clouseau's victory was the first time since Tim Floc'h's memorable win at Enna the previous year that the polesitter won a race. In addition, attrition allowed Clouseau's teammate, Alphonse Fabron, to pick up a fourth place, and bring home his first career points and a large overall haul for the LATE team. Nino Pilia scored his first podium of the season, as did Johannes Gruber. Despite her engine failure, Arrigorriagakoa was classified fifth, while Aimé Voulescons was classified sixth for the second consecutive race. And while he was classified just outside the points, a race fastest lap allowed Nikolai Zorbin to score his first point of the season, a welcome boost to his team following their failure to pre-qualify at Imola.
FINAL CLASSIFICATIONFASTEST LAPSDrive of the Race: The Trackside Medics — the fact that nobody was killed over the duration of this event is nothing short of miraculous.
Reject of the Race: Blockton Impact — very much a weekend to forget for all the wrong reasons.
INJURY REPORTIn total, six drivers were involved in accidents severe enough to warrant being taken to hospital for some level of treatment or another during the weekend.
Max Speed:Speed sustained a very violent crash in pre-qualifying; being less than two weeks removed from a concussion, this did not bode well.
1-50: Head injury — misses five races
51-100: Injury is worse... Second RNG
99... The odds are not good...
1-33: Coma (will RNG after each race to determine if he wakes up from it)
34-66: Traumatic Brain Injury (career-ender)
67-100: Traumatic Brain Injury (death)
12!
Speed is in a coma. First, the RNG to see if he wakes up between Rouen and Thruxton:
1-20 - Wakes up before the next round
21-90 - Stays asleep
91-100 - Pull the plug
4 In a medical miracle, Speed spends only a handful of days in a coma. Of course, he will not be racing for the foreseeable future, and Blockton's decision to replace him with the American Diane Ettick (who is believed to have had a part in making this medical miracle happen) has been noted.
Giuseppe Gasperoni:He crashed off rather heavily early on at a weird angle, so there is a chance of a leg injury.
1-40: unharmed
41-70: sprained ankle — misses one race
71-90: broken ankle — misses three races
91-100: broken leg — misses five races
72! Gasperoni will miss the next three races. His replacement by Norwegian sportscar veteran Per Olsen has been noted.
Amada Castellón:Castellón sustained a similar sort of crash to Gasperoni, and so the same permutations will be used.
1-40: unharmed
41-70: sprained ankle — misses one race
71-90: broken ankle — misses three races
91-100: broken leg — misses five races
17! Castellón is thankfully unscathed.
Leopoldo Faraldo:Faraldo T-boned Paul Pott (whom we will get to later), and as a result there is a risk of leg injury, with the same permutations as the previous two RNGs.
1-40: unharmed
41-70: sprained ankle — misses one race
71-90: broken ankle — misses three races
91-100: broken leg — misses five races
10! Faraldo is also thankfully unscathed.
Paul Pott:He was T-boned by Leopoldo Faraldo, which, considering the substandard build-quality of the Dywa-002, inevitably runs the risk of serious injury.
1-40 - Broken ribs and a concussion (3 races)
41-70 - Internal injuries (5 races)
71-90 - Broken pelvis and internal injuries (out for season)
91-100 - Basilar skull fracture (second RNG)
22! Pott shall be missing the next three races. His replacement by the South West African Bern van der Westhouzen has been noted.
Jehan Duchamps:Duchamps had a horrific crash on the fourth lap, where he crashed off at high speed and then struck by Karl Gustav Schneider, suffering massive internal trauma. This RNG will really only decide just how bad this internal trauma was.
1-70 Out for season
71-100 Second RNG
78! This does not bode well...
1-33: Misses rest of season and first half of next season (assuming they want to get back in a Dywa)
34-66: Career-ending injuries
67-100: Death
8! Somehow, Duchamps has survived, though one would doubt if he would ever want to drive a Dywa again. His replacement by Sofia De Haro has been noted.
ADDITIONAL NEWSDywa GP Communiqué wrote:Giornale di Sicilia 12th April 1979 wrote:Body fished out of Lake Pergusa
Police were called to Autodromo di Pergusa yesterday afternoon after some workers preparing the circuit for an upcoming event noticed a body on the shore of the lake
Police spokeperson said " Police and paramedics were called to the Purgusa circuit after a person was discovered in the lake on arrival a gentlemen in his late 60s early 70s was confirmed dead, investigation's are ongoing to ascertain the identify if the deceased and the course of death. Infinitely reports suggest that the body may have been in the water for a couple of weeks before the discovery was made.
Giornale di Sicilia 20th April 1979 wrote:Lake Pergusa body identified
Police have finally managed to identify the remains of a elderly gentlemen found dead in Lake Pergusa last week. Poiice confirmed that the remains were of 62 year Francois Arnaud believed to be a goat farmer from southern france.
Police were able to make an identification after a missing persons report was filed by a local hotel. claining that a holiday maker left the hotel without paying. Police investigating that incident recovered a passport in that name as well as some personal possession covered in goat hairs.
Police linked the 2 cases after conforming that a key from the same hotel were found on the body. The body was also wrapped in blanket which inside had some hairs. Analyse of hairs from the blanket and the hotel were a match
Cause of death was also confirmed with the victim dieing from a bleed on the brain which is believed to have been caused by some type of blunt force trauma. What caused the trauma and what Arnaud was doing in Sicily has yet to be determined
Police in France visited Arnaud's home address to inform family of his death where they discovered the body of Arnauds wife along side those of several goats in the burnt out house. the bodies showing signs of stab wounds. Police are investigating the murder and it is believed the 2 cases may be linked.
Following these revelations, the series organisers have decided to
exclude Scuderia Verona from the remaining races of the season. However, Drivers' and Teams' Championship standings will not be amended.