Look back: Ferrari win at the Glen, USGP 1978.

Last week Crash.net had a look back to 1978 when the American Champcars came over to the UK. At the same time as those Champcar races at Silverstone and Brands Hatch, Formula One was the other side of the Atlantic competing in America and in Canada. Today we have a look back to the US GP at Watkins Glen...

When looking at America and Formula One, talk is always made of how Formula One can break into the American market. The irony is that there has actually been more Grand Prix in the US than in any other country, save for Italy and Germany, both of which have a regular two Grand Prix per season.

Grand Prix in the US had been held at a variety of venues. The world famous Indianapolis 500 was classified as part of the world championship, though for many years none of the European teams ran there. Indianapolis counts for eleven races from 1950 until 1960, before racing resumed at the venue in the year 2000. Watkins Glen then took over as the main venue and twenty races were held there from 1961 until 1980. Long Beach was the scene of eight GP from 1976 to 1983 and Detroit saw races from 1982 to 1988. Other venues, which have held races are: Dallas, Las Vegas, Phoenix, Riverside and Sebring. The United States is the only country to have held three Grand's Prix in one season, the year was 1982 and the locations were Long Beach, Detroit and Las Vegas.

For the 1978 race, which ran on the same weekend that the USAC Champcars were at Silverstone, the venue was Watkins Glen. Watkins Glen is a worthy contender for any top ten list of the world's greatest circuits and held Grand's Prix on two configurations in its twenty years of holding the US GP. Until 1970 the race was held on a 2.3-mile version of the circuit, after that date the length of the track was extended to 3.377 miles.

Visiting the circuit that year was a field of names, including the likes of Nikki Lauda, Mario Andretti, James Hunt, Keke Rosberg, Carlos Reutemann, Gilles Villeneuve, Emerson Fittipaldi, Jody Schecter, Bobby Rahal and Alan Jones. By the time the season reached America Mario Andretti had the title tied up having 64 points in the bag. Andretti had already been the first American to win a home Grand Prix with a victory at Long Beach the previous year and the odds were on him recording another home win.

The story of 1978 had been the tale of domination of Andretti's black and gold John Players Special liveried Lotus 79s. Making full use of ground effect these cars in the hands of Andretti and team-mate Ronnie Peterson had been the class of the field. Team orders were such that Andretti was deemed the one who should collect the most points, with Peterson ceding to the American-Italian. The year was to see tragedy however, when Peterson died in Italy when the two times championship runner up lost both of his legs and a subsequent pulmonary embolism took his life.

Involved in the accident that had taken Peterson's life was Riccardo Patrese. At that point in his career the Italian had a reputation for being wild and fast and many blamed him for the accident at Monza. The man, who would go on to start the most Grand Prix of anyone at 256 and went on to become one of the sports greatest ambassadors, found himself excluded from the race at Watkins Glen. The body which had deemed to exclude him, was the 'GP drivers' safety committee' comprising of James Hunt, Emerson Fittipaldi, Mario Andretti, Jody Scheckter and Mario Andretti. Patrese had attempted to appeal this decision, and even tried to have the Watkins Glen race stopped in the courts, before thinking better of it and sitting the race out.

Down to action at the circuit and Andretti duly put on an accomplished pole performance before his home crowd and sat on the first spot on the grid by more than a second from Argentinian Carlos Reutemann's Ferrari. The pole time was some 2.7 seconds better than the previous year's pole by James Hunt which showed how effective the ground effect cars had become. Andretti, who had won that year at Argentina, Belgium, Spain, France, Germany and Holland, looked to be set for a comfortable time of it on race day.

Race day dawned however and there were problems for Andretti. A broken stub axle made for an accident and his Lotus returned to the pits in a far from useful state. Andretti opted to use new team-mate Jarier's car for the race with the Frenchman being demoted to the spare.

On the starting grid the cars lined up Andretti, Reutemann, Villeneuve, Jones, Hunt, Lauda, Jarier, Watson, Laffite and Jean Pierre Jabouille rounding off the top ten on the grid. Come the green lights Andretti made a storming start in the unfamiliar car and headed the two following Ferraris for the first laps. It soon became clear that the car was not what was to be expected and as early as lap three Andretti was passed for the lead of the race by Reutemann.

Woes that afflicted Andretti in the Lotus amounted to a long brake pedal and unsettled handing going into the Watkins Glen corners. Very quickly after Reutemann had robbed Andretti of the lead, Villeneuve in the other Ferrari was also through.

Andretti continued to fall backwards towards the fourth placed Alan Jones in the Williams FW06. Retirements, save for Rebaque and Hans Stuck, waited until the lap count was in the twenties when the engines of first Villeneuve then Watson, Andretti and Lauda gave up. Bizarrely there were six retirements as the lap tally went through the twenties, yet only four other retirements in the 59-lap race.

Argentinean Reutemann was looking good as he passed Andretti and headed off into the distance. Looking every inch the Latin racing driver Reutemann was something of an enigma; on his day unbeatable, yet when it wasn't his day he was easily beaten. Later in his career Reutemann looked set to take the 1981 world championship and qualified on pole for the final race of the season. Despite this, come race day the replacement of a front wishbone on his car was sufficient to disrupt the drivers equilibrium and Reutemann put on a performance unworthy of a world champion that day, and sure enough his seventh placed finish in the race was sufficient to gift the championship to Nelson Piquet.

In Watkins Glen however Carlos was having one of his good days. The Ferrari driver had already won at the circuit in 1974 and in the 1978 season could already boast of having won a US Grand Prix having taken the victory at Long Beach earlier in the season. To show to all that he was on form, Reutemann's passing of Andretti was accomplished in a serene manner around the outside of the corner. He would be hard to beat on that particular day. Until lap twenty-two it was his team-mate Gilles Villeneuve who took the battle to Reutemann, but the French-Canadian's engine gave up the battle.

Reutemann was left to drive a largely uneventful race from that point on and was followed across the line by Alan Jones who had soon settled into second place after the retirements and pitstops. Further down the field more action was seen, with Andretti's team-mate Jean Pierre Jarier providing much of the excitement. Jarier had been drafted into the team following Ronnie Peterson's death and, initially at least, took his time getting up to speed. In qualifying the Frenchman put his Lotus in the eighth spot, almost two seconds slower than Andretti's pole performance.

In the race however, Jarier, driving the spare car after Andretti took his, soon was flying on the track and his fastest race lap was some half a second quicker than his qualifying performance. This was accomplished after an early pitstop had been required to replace a problematic front tyre. After this stop Jarier had flown through the field and was closing in on Jones for the second spot, until a mere three laps from the end he was out of fuel.

Third place eventually went to Scheckter, the man who was to win the following year's championship for Ferrari, driving a Wolf. Fourth was taken by Jean Pierre Jabouille's Renault, fifth was taken by Emerson Fittipaldi and sixth by Patrick Tambay.

Coming home in seventh place in the race was James Hunt who had caused one of the more bizarre moments of the race. Hunt was driving a McLaren for that season, and when he came into the pits to change tyres the Englishman reckoned the pressures being used were wrong and spent time remonstrating with his crew to the extent that he lost five places whilst he was sat in the pits waving his hands in the air. As he left the pits his mechanics were left to take the psi.

Following Hunt and rounding off the top ten was Derek Daly's Ensign in eighth, Frenchman Rene Arnoux came ninth in the Durex liveried Surtees and Didier Pironi rounded off the top ten in his Tyrrell 008.

Top ten
1. Carlos Reutemann
2. Alan Jones
3. Jean Pierre Jabouille
4. Jody Scheckter
5. Emerson Fittipaldi
6. Patrick Tambay
7. James Hunt
8. Derek Daly
9. Rene Arnoux
10. Didier Pironi

The weekend following the 1978 USGP Formula One raced at Montreal for the Canadian Grand Prix. Next week Crash.net will have a look back at that race.