I think Varsha mentioned the '81 Spanish race last Sunday and I found an Italian version in my library. Oh my God...what a race! Gilles was unbelievable. He held off Reutemann in a clearly faster Williams for almost the whole race. With about 25 laps to go Laffite, Watson, and de Angelis joined the fight. Nose to tail, all ,lap after lap. Laffite got around Reutemann, then Watson did the same. I've never seen anything like it. 5 cars fighting for the lead, separated by 1.2 seconds for over 25 laps. How Gilles held them off I don't know. His car was obviously fast in just the right places and he never did any real blocking. At the end 5 different makes of cars covered by 1.2 seconds. For the lead, not some mid pack fight. Ferrari, Talbot/Ligier, McLaren, Williams, Lotus in that order. If the FIA wants closer races all it need is to look to it's history. Ground effects. These cars had very little wing, I'm sure because it wasn't necessary and created drag. The result was the ability to race this close and it sure as hell is exciting. What a difference compared to the snoozer we had last week. This was at Jarama which is very twisty with little overtaking areas but still provided an unbelievable race.

Here's a rather poor quality video review on youtube

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NiVyLEM-0wE

While it is true that the reliance on ground effects did allow cars to follow closely, I don't think it was the main factor that caused the circumstances of the race, so I don't know that you can say the FIA should therefore consider to allow ground effects based on this race. The FIA is implementing new aero rules for 2009 that should make the cars less sensitive to following other cars which will allow closer nose-to-tail racing.

It was an amazing set of circumstances that allowed Villeneuve to get in the postion he did. Lafitte's horrible start due to his slipping clutch also served to clog up the other cars qualifying ahead of Villeneuve. A good start by Villeneuve and the strong horsepower of the Ferrari engine allowed him to slip into third. Had it not been for Lafitte's problem, Reutemann's gearbox problem and Jones inability to keep his car on track, the Villeneuve led train would have been a gaggle of cars running mid-pack just where we see closer racing today.

Fate allowed a car incapable that day of matching the race pace of other cars to get in the lead. The horsepower advantage of the Ferrari with the extreme tightness of Jarama are the main causes of this tight race. At that circuit one didn't have to block but merely had to choose a line just a foot or two tighter and it was impossible to pass.

Unless ground effects returns along with 21 inch rear slicks you won't see this again.
Ground effects + slicks + active suspensions + movable wings is the way to do it.

parmalat - 03 May 2008 06:27 PM

Fate allowed a car incapable that day of matching the race pace of other cars to get in the lead. The horsepower advantage of the Ferrari with the extreme tightness of Jarama are the main causes of this tight race. At that circuit one didn't have to block but merely had to choose a line just a foot or two tighter and it was impossible to pass.

Indeed, what race is sueh watching ? Gilles is in defensive mode the whole way, this is also why we don't have tracks like this anymore, oh I take that back, Monaco, you get 3 or 4 cars held up by a slower car all the time. Gee, how exciting.

At least the Ferrari won ! Sometimes I wish Schumacher was still racing, that would give sueh something else to complain about besides constantly harping about wanting to go back to the 1980's, been there done that...