1976 United States Grand Prix West
Race 3 of 16 in the 1976 Formula One season
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Race details
Date March 28, 1976
Official name II Grand Prix of Long Beach[1]
Location Long Beach, California
Course Temporary street course
Course length 3.251 km (2.02 miles)
Distance 80 laps, 260.08 km (161.60 miles)
Weather Hot and sunny with temperatures reaching up to 70 °F (21 °C); wind speeds approaching speeds up to 15 miles per hour (24 km/h)[2]
Pole position
Driver Ferrari
Time 1:23.099
Fastest lap
Driver Switzerland Clay Regazzoni Ferrari
Time 1:23.076 on lap 61
Podium
First Ferrari
Second Ferrari
Third Tyrrell-Ford
Lap leaders

The 1976 United States Grand Prix West was a Formula One motor race held on March 28, 1976, in Long Beach, California. The race was the third round of the 1976 Formula One season and the first new race to be added to the calendar since the Brazilian and Swedish Grand Prix were added in 1973. It was the second Formula One race held in California, the first being the 1960 United States Grand Prix at Riverside, only 50 miles away. The race was held over 80 laps of the 3.251-kilometre street circuit for a total race distance of 260 kilometres.

The race was won by Swiss driver Clay Regazzoni in a Ferrari 312T by 42 seconds over team mate and championship points leader, Austrian driver Niki Lauda. French driver Patrick Depailler finished third driving a Tyrrell 007.

Summary

Italy was the first country to host two Championship Formula One races in the same year in 1957. The United States would become the second as the first USGP West at Long Beach, California, appeared on the 1976 F1 calendar, along with the long-standing autumn race at Watkins Glen, New York. The new race's organizers, headed by British businessman and Long Beach resident Chris Pook, could not have done a better job in their attempt to create an 'American Monaco.' An unending list of former Champions was present for the weekend's vintage race, including Denny Hulme, Jack Brabham, and Juan Manuel Fangio himself. Dan Gurney and American Champion Phil Hill were also in attendance after helping to conceive and promote the event.

When the cars took to the track, the drivers differed in their opinions of the concrete-lined street circuit which featured two hairpins and a long, curving waterfront "straight." Ferrari's reigning World Champion Niki Lauda said the course was much bumpier than Monaco and harder on the car, but easier on the driver. Emerson Fittipaldi said he liked it very much, but Frenchmen Jacques Laffite and Patrick Depailler would not agree. In qualifying, Lauda led first, then James Hunt's McLaren, and finally Clay Regazzoni in the second Ferrari. After spending much of the session with ignition trouble, Depailler made a last-minute bid and slotted his Tyrrell onto the front row in second, less than two-tenths off the Ferrari's pace. The Formula One Constructors' Association had decided to limit the field to twenty starters for safety reasons, because of the narrow concrete canyons necessitated by the street layout, and seven cars failed to qualify.

At the start, Regazzoni rocketed away and settled into the lead, ahead of Hunt, Depailler, and teammate Lauda. Exiting the first turn, Vittorio Brambilla squeezed Carlos Reutemann into the wall, putting both cars out. Then, on the curving back "straight" by the harbor, Gunnar Nilsson's Lotus broke its rear suspension and jerked hard into the wall at 160 miles per hour. He emerged with only a stiff neck.

On lap four, Hunt was bearing down on Depailler for second place. He tried to slip inside the Tyrrell entering the right-hand hairpin just before the back straight, but Depailler closed the door, forcing Hunt to go around on the left. As they exited the corner side-by-side, Depailler moved across and pushed the McLaren into the barrier. Hunt yanked himself from his car, certain that it was undrivable, and shook his fist at Depailler each time the Frenchman came around. After the race, the McLaren mechanics came to retrieve the car and were able to drive it back to the pits!

On the same lap, John Watson bumped Laffite's Ligier from behind, breaking the nose on his Penske. Laffite was spun around by the contact and dropped from eighth to fourteenth place. Meanwhile, Lauda made his way by Depailler on lap five and took second place, seven seconds behind Regazzoni, who was beginning to seem untouchable. Mario Andretti had moved from fifteenth on the grid to ninth in the Parnelli VPJ 4B-Ford, including the fastest lap to that point, but was finished when he lost the water in his engine (although he didn't actually stop until lap 15 when the engine had completely cooked).

This would be the last race for the American Vel's-Parnelli car. Over three seasons, it competed in 16 races, with Mario the car's only driver. Upon retiring from the race in Long Beach, Andretti was approached by a television reporter in the pits, asking, "How about this being your last race in Formula One?" Andretti replied, "What are you talking about?" The reporter said, "That's what Vel (Miletich) told me." Andretti said, "It may have been his last Grand Prix, but it won't be mine."

Andretti terminated his relationship with Miletich and Parnelli Jones that day, but the next morning, by accident, joined Lotus team manager Colin Chapman for breakfast in a Long Beach coffee shop, where the two forged an agreement. By the next season, with Andretti driving Chapman's revolutionary Lotus 78, the two were winning races together and, of course, in 1978, captured the World Championship.

At about the same time as Andretti's retirement from the race, Depailler spun and dropped from third to seventh, and after 20 laps, Regazzoni led by 13 seconds over Lauda, Jody Scheckter and Tom Pryce in the Shadow. Depailler, furious over his mistake, was storming back up the line as he got by Jean-Pierre Jarier and Ronnie Peterson within six laps. When Pryce broke a driveshaft on lap 33 and Scheckter had a front wishbone snap on lap 34, Depailler was back in third place, behind the two Ferraris.

After his incident with Watson, Laffite had driven brilliantly in just the third race for the new Matra-powered Ligier. He passed Jochen Mass on lap 45, and Jarier on lap 46 to take over fourth place. With 20 laps to go, Lauda was having trouble selecting gears and decided to try to nurse the car home rather than make a run at Regazzoni. Jarier had dropped to sixth behind Mass, also with gearbox trouble. Then, on the next to last lap, with only first and fifth gears left, he was also overtaken by Fittipaldi, who scored the first Championship point for his own Copersucar team.

Regazzoni took an easy win, the fourth of his career, completing the grand chelem of pole position, fastest lap, victory, and leading every lap. Lauda successfully brought his ailing car home second, 42 seconds back, and Depailler completed a fine recovery from his spin by taking third. The first USGP West was a success. Indeed, former team manager Rob Walker said, "I think the creation of the Long Beach GP was the greatest achievement in motor racing this decade".

Classification

Qualifying

Pos. No. Driver Constructor Time/Gap
1 2 Switzerland Clay Regazzoni Ferrari 1:23.099
2 4 France Patrick Depailler TyrrellFord +0.193
3 11 United Kingdom James Hunt McLarenFord +0.321
4 1 Austria Niki Lauda Ferrari +0.548
5 16 United Kingdom Tom Pryce ShadowFord +0.578
6 10 Sweden Ronnie Peterson MarchFord +1.058
7 17 France Jean-Pierre Jarier ShadowFord +1.064
8 9 Italy Vittorio Brambilla MarchFord +1.069
9 28 United Kingdom John Watson PenskeFord +1.071
10 7 Argentina Carlos Reutemann BrabhamAlfa Romeo +1.166
11 3 South Africa Jody Scheckter TyrrellFord +1.245
12 26 France Jacques Laffite LigierMatra +1.343
13 8 Brazil Carlos Pace BrabhamAlfa Romeo +1.373
14 12 West Germany Jochen Mass McLarenFord +1.442
15 27 United States Mario Andretti ParnelliFord +1.467
16 30 Brazil Emerson Fittipaldi FittipaldiFord +1.680
17 22 New Zealand Chris Amon EnsignFord +1.704
18 34 West Germany Hans-Joachim Stuck MarchFord +2.023
19 19 Australia Alan Jones SurteesFord +2.115
20 6 Sweden Gunnar Nilsson LotusFord +2.178
21 21 France Michel Leclère Wolf-WilliamsFord +2.337
22 31 Brazil Ingo Hoffmann FittipaldiFord +2.458
23 35 Italy Arturo Merzario MarchFord +2.638
24 5 United Kingdom Bob Evans LotusFord +2.791
25 20 Belgium Jacky Ickx Wolf-WilliamsFord +3.429
26 24 Austria Harald Ertl HeskethFord +3.725
27 18 United States Brett Lunger SurteesFord +3.729
Source:[3]

*Drivers in red failed to qualify

Race

PosNoDriverConstructorLapsTime/RetiredGridPoints
1 2 Switzerland Clay Regazzoni Ferrari 80 1:53:18.471 1 9
2 1 Austria Niki Lauda Ferrari 80 +42.414 4 6
3 4 France Patrick Depailler Tyrrell-Ford 80 +49.972 2 4
4 26 France Jacques Laffite Ligier-Matra 80 +1:12.828 12 3
5 12 West Germany Jochen Mass McLaren-Ford 80 +1:22.292 14 2
6 30 Brazil Emerson Fittipaldi Fittipaldi-Ford 79 +1 lap 16 1
7 17 France Jean-Pierre Jarier Shadow-Ford 79 +1 lap 7  
8 22 New Zealand Chris Amon Ensign-Ford 78 +2 laps 17  
9 8 Brazil Carlos Pace Brabham-Alfa Romeo 77 +3 laps 13  
10 10 Sweden Ronnie Peterson March-Ford 77 +3 laps 6  
NC 19 Australia Alan Jones Surtees-Ford 70 +10 laps 19  
NC 28 United Kingdom John Watson Penske-Ford 69 +11 laps 9  
Ret 3 South Africa Jody Scheckter Tyrrell-Ford 34 Suspension 11  
Ret 16 United Kingdom Tom Pryce Shadow-Ford 32 Halfshaft 5  
Ret 27 United States Mario Andretti Parnelli-Ford 15 Water leak 15  
Ret 11 United Kingdom James Hunt McLaren-Ford 3 Accident 3  
Ret 34 West Germany Hans Joachim Stuck March-Ford 2 Accident 18  
Ret 9 Italy Vittorio Brambilla March-Ford 0 Collision 8  
Ret 7 Argentina Carlos Reutemann Brabham-Alfa Romeo 0 Collision 10  
Ret 6 Sweden Gunnar Nilsson Lotus-Ford 0 Suspension 20  
DNQ 21 France Michel Leclère Wolf-Williams-Ford      
DNQ 31 Brazil Ingo Hoffmann Fittipaldi-Ford      
DNQ 35 Italy Arturo Merzario March-Ford      
DNQ 5 United Kingdom Bob Evans Lotus-Ford      
DNQ 20 Belgium Jacky Ickx Wolf-Williams-Ford      
DNQ 24 Austria Harald Ertl Hesketh-Ford      
DNQ 18 United States Brett Lunger Surtees-Ford      
Source:[4]

Championship standings after the race

  • Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.

References

  1. "1976 US West GP". www.chicanef1.com. Retrieved August 2, 2020.
  2. "Weather information for the "1976 United States Grand Prix West"". The Old Farmers' Almanac. Retrieved May 20, 2015.
  3. "Formula One 1976 United States Grand Prix West Classification | Motorsport Stats".
  4. "1976 USA West Grand Prix". formula1.com. Archived from the original on December 10, 2014. Retrieved December 23, 2015.
  5. 1 2 "United States West 1976 - Championship • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved March 21, 2019.

Further reading

  • Doug Nye (1978). The United States Grand Prix and Grand Prize Races, 1908-1977. B. T. Batsford. ISBN 0-7134-1263-1
  • Rob Walker (July, 1976). "1st United States Grand Prix West: Regga Runs Away". Road & Track, 78-82.
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