The German mid-70 reaction

Between Wolfgang Von Trips' 1961 title bid and Michael Schumacher's first title in 1994, German drivers went through a long drought in Formula 1. That, coming from a nation that utterly dominated GP racing in the second half of the 30's, must have been a blow.

German drivers during this interval usually did well in long-distance racing, hill climbs, touring cars and even in Formula 2. In fact, German drivers had been runner up in the European Formula 2 championship two years running, 1973 and 1974 (Jochen Mass and Hans Joachim Stuck), during a highly competitive era.

During a short spell, between the Spanish Grand Prix of 1975 and the U.S. Grand Prix East of 1977, the three main German drivers of the time rehearsed a bit of a reaction, that did not really come to fruition. All three, Jochen Mass, Rolf Stommelen and Hans Stuck, lead a Grand Prix in that period. Plus Jochen won the first half Grand Prix of the history of the sport.

Most unusually, Jochen Mass's single win came in the same race in which a fellow German, Rolf Stommelen, was leading for the first time as well, in a Lola, of all cars. The weekend had been one of those dramatic ones, which seemed destined to end in tragedy and so it did. The guard rails at Montjuich Park in Barcelona were coming apart, the drivers threatened a walkout, and at the end, only Emerson Fittipaldi and Arturo Merzario stuck to a plan, both doing a slow first lap in protest.

The two Ferrari's clashed at the start, with Emmo out, and other top racers in trouble, it seemed as if a surprise would spring about. In fact, Mario Andretti led in the Parnelli, and then Rolf Stommelen took the lead, in a car that up to that point had not frequented the front at all. However, the rear wing support collapsed, and Rolf crashed. He sustained serious injuries that sidelined him for a while, however, some spectators were not so lucky and perished. Jochen Mass picked up the lead, and thus, for the first time since 1961 a German driver won a Grand Prix, albeit under sad circumstances.

Rolf would never again be competitive in GP racing, however Mass had a plum ride at McLaren, where he stayed for three seasons. The closest he came to winning a race on sheer speed was the also tragic German Grand Prix of 1976. Jochen started on slicks, on a drying track, and by the end of the first lap had a 30 second lead over second place. Then Niki Lauda crashed, and Mass' advantage evaporated in the second start. From that point on, Mass always played second fiddle to James Hunt.

As for Hans Stuck, he ended up taking the seat vacated by Carlos Pace at Brabham Alfa Romeo in 1977. When Hans was negotiating his retainer at Bernie Ecclestone's office, the astute Brit said that Arturo Merzario was on the other line and would drive for 35 thousand dollars the whole season. Hans, who wanted 100 grand, then accepted driving for 30. Arturo was not at all on the line, but would have been a logical choice for the Alfa Romeo-engined team.

John Watson, the other Brabham driver, was very fast during the rest of the season, led races, however, had a dismal finish record. Hans, on the other hand, was not very fast in qualifying, however, posted a couple of podium finishes. By Watkins Glen, the German had to prove his worth, if he were to have a shot getting a good drive in 1978.


Hans and James Hunt in 1977

Hans did well at the Glen, and it was raining. Few raced better under the rain than Hans. He qualified second, and led the first few laps, but then trouble struck, and that was the end of Hans' life at the top in F1.

In the mid 80's, Stefan Bellof came into F1 and looked like a sure future champion. Unfortunately, his 1984 points were taken away due to Tyrrel's disqualification and he never had the opportunity to show what he was capable of.

Germans would only lead and win again in 1992, when a certain Michael Schumacher broke the pattern,  eventually winning his first Formula 1 title (and Germany's) in 1994.

Carlos de Paula is a translator, writer and auto racing historian living in Miami

Winds of change from the East

These days, we are quite accostumed with the idea of GP drivers from the old Iron Curtain. After all, drivers from Poland, Russia, Czech Republic and Hungary have all driven in Formula 1, and the Pole actually won a race before a rally accident ruined what looked like a great career.

However, in the 70's, we still lived under the Cold War, and the Eastern Block was basically shrouded by mystery. Russia every once announced even more mysterious GP level cars, touring car races were held in Brno, Czechoslovakia, as well as Budapest and Belgrade in the 60s, and East Germany also had a fairly active racing scene. However, dreaming of  an Iron Curtain GP driver in Formula 1 in the 70s was as far fetched as an imagination could go.

Not that the Eastern Block did not have a representative in F1, for Edgar Barth, Jurgen's father, did drive in the category while still East German. And later as West German.

Allow me some poetic liberty. As Formula 2 was, at least in theory, the step category before Formula 1, the driver pictured below almost became the first modern Eastern Block driver to reach Formula 1 in the 70s. Allow me a lot of poetic liberty.

Ok, there was Count Adam Potocki, born in Poland, who raced briefly in F2 in the late 60s, early 70s, however, by that time he had French citizenship. The guy below was the real deal.

The car is a Surtees TS16-Ford, and the driver, Yugoslav Francy Jerancic.

The "lot of poetic liberty" stems from the fact that Francy, who apparently had lots of bourgeois sponsorship in his car, never even came close to qualifying in any of the Championship F2 races he showed up for in 1975. That, of course, meant GP teams were not really lined up to hire the slow Titoland driver, and perhaps bring Vesna sponsorship to F1. Elsewhere, Francy did not steal any headlines either.

Notwithstanding, Jerancic makes a nice conversation piece about "almosts", of which there are so many in car racing.


Carlos de Paula is a translator, writer and auto racing historian based in Miami

Winners of the 6 Hours of Peru

The 6 Hours of Peru is Peru's major car race, and in fact,m a long standing event, held since 1964. In its current form, it is a touring car race, that features more than 30 entrants. A lot of Peruvian drivers who raced abroad, such as Eduardo Dibos, Jorge Koechlin and Neto Jochamowitz have won the event. Ecuadorians  Fausto Merello and Guillermo Ortega won the race in 1968 and American Jim Pace was one of the winners in 2001.

1964 Percy Fox - Kike Pérez
1965 Eduardo Dibós Ch. - Emilio Fort
1966 Leopoldo Barboza - Ricardo Dewitz
1967 Armando Capriles - Alfredo Asencio
1968 Fausto Merello - Guillermo Ortega
1971 Francisco Schettini - Kike Pérez
1973 Miguel Navarro - Udarico Ossio
1976 Eduardo Malachowski - Denis Gonzáles
1977 Pedro De las Casas - Luis De las Casas
1978 Alfredo Bergna - Coco Corbetto
1979 Julio César De las Casas - Luis F. De las Casas
1980 Ricardo Bentín - Gaspare Dalla Francesca
1981 Jorge Koechlin - Gaspare Dalla Francesca
1982 Jorge Koechlin - Tito De la Flor
1983 Eduardo Dibós S. - Eduardo De la Flor
1984 Gaspare Dalla Francesca - Eduardo De la Flor
1985 Henry Peet - Gaspare Dalla Francesca
1986 Luis Alvarado - Alex Wille
1987 Raúl Orlandini - Luis Alayza
1988 Tito De la Flor - Ricardo Dasso
1989 Tito De la Flor - Ricardo Dasso
1990 Tito Pardo - Víctor Alvarado
1991 Francisco Schettini - Luis Mantilla
1992 Raúl Orlandini - Ricardo Menchelli
1993 Gaspare Dalla Francesca - Carlos Ibárcena
1994 Gaspare Dalla Francesca - Neto Jochamowitz
1995 Raúl Velit - Pedro Roca
1996 Neto Jochamowitz - Mario Alberti / Bruno Chiappe
1997 César Vera - Eduardo Aservi
1998 Ricardo Dasso - Bruno Chiappe
1999 Eduardo Dibós - Juan Dibós / Oscar Dufour
2000 Domingo Seminario - Sergio Seminario
2001 Eduardo Dibós - Juan Dibós / Jim Pace
2002 Gustavo Pinillos - Fernando Vera
2003 Gustavo Pinillos - Fernando Vera
2004 Raúl Orlandini - Raúl Orlandini Jr.
2005 Eduardo de la Flor – Wilson Maruy
2006 Christian Kobashigawa – Juan Manuel Polar
2007 Christian Kobashigawa – Juan Manuel Polar
2009 Christian Kobashigawa – Juan Manuel Polar
2010 Christian Kobashigawa – Tomás Oneto
2011 Ricardo Dasso - Godfrey Hemmerde
2013 Raul Orlandini - Ricardo Flores

Photo from the 1964 race

The pay driver "thing"

The pay driver "situation" in Formula 1 is being pictured escathologically as a disaster of the era, the end of the category as we know it. Even Martin Whitmarsh, the McLaren chief who should know better, seems to be blowing the thing out of proportion.

First of all, paying drivers always existed in Formula 1, and always will exist, in one fashion or another. Years ago, they came mostly in the form of privateers, drivers who bought and run their own cars on real shoestring budgets, because they did not attract the attention of works teams. Then, when commercial sponsorship came into full force in the 70s (which, by the way, killed the privateers) the teams down the ladder continued to rent seats in their cars to anyone who could bring a few thousand dollars. As a matter of fact, a large number of drivers who raced in Formula 1 in the 70s were paying drivers of one sort or another, and I could list dozens. Nelson Piquet and Niki Lauda began their F1 careers renting drives. Even Brabham, which was a well financed team, employed pay driver Hector Rebaque in its championship year, 1981. The list goes on.

The pay drivers continued to exist, although now, sometimes it looks like the driver is not a pay driver. Do the math - if you bring (or attract) 5 million dollars to a team's budget, and the team pays you US$500,000, then by definition you are a pay driver, even though you earn a salary!!!

So don't come with this "pay driver" crisis concept, it does not exist in my mind.

The situation seems "out of hand", because now the two weakest teams in Formula 1 - Marussia and Caterham - are all made up of pay drivers, and to make room for such drivers, they had to let go of two drivers who do deserve to be in Formula 1, Heikki Kovalainen and Timo Glock. Matters are made worse because a third "new team", HRT, finally foundered.

To me, the situation improved from last year, when one of the more traditional teams, Williams, employed a driver, Bruno Senna, who brought a sizable chunk of money, so he was a pay driver, whether one likes it or not. He has been replaced by Bottas, a Finnish driver who does not bring a cent to the team, I reckon.

One driver who some considered a pay driver, Sergio Perez, who attracted Carlos Slim`s money to the Sauber team, almost won two races, is now a Mclaren driver and yesterday posted the fastest time in pre-season testing. His placed is taken by Gutierrez, who some also consider a pay driver(!) and some reckon Gutierrez is even faster than Perez. Venezuelan Pastor Maldonado, the mother of all pay drivers of the age, often frequented the first slots of the grid and won a race on speed! Something that seven-time, 93-race winning driver Michael Schumacher did not come even close to do...

On the other hand, let us be honest. What good would it be for Glock or Kovalainen or Kobayashi to continue in Formula 1 racing for thirteenth place and shooting for tenth place in the constructor's championship with zero points?

The real sad thing, Mr. Whitmarsh, is that Formula 1, with all its glamour, brains, talent, money and popularity, has failed to produce 22 competitive entries. The teams at the bottom of the time sheets are glorified jokes. The whims of the Caterham and Marussia teams stem from the fact that they are very slow backmarkers, who are unable to attract good sponsorship. Thus drivers like Glock, Kovalainen and Kobayashi have to be out of Formula 1, possibly forever.

Perhaps it is about time we talk about 3-car teams again, huh?

Carlos de Paula is a translator, writer and auto racing historian based in Miami

The British Formula 3 crisis in 1974

Any follower of British F3 is quite aware that the once mighty championship is going through crisis. Once a championship with multiple rounds, even some abroad, now the championship is reduced to four double header events, excluding some of the more traditional venues.

It is not the first time, and we hope, not the last time British F3 goes through such crisis. I say I hope it is not the last because if it is, it might be the ultimate demise of the series.

In 1974, one of the major problems was the oil crisis brought about by the 1973 Middle East war. Oil prices went through the roof (little they know how far the roof would go), European economies were destabilized, and car racing was perceived as a wasteful endeavor. This affected a number of race series worldwide, in fact, in the next couple of seasons a lot of European championships were either gone or transformed into lighter versions.

F3 in 1974 also had an image issue. Engine sizes were raised again in a short period of 4 seasons, this time to 2 liters. That is, twice the size of the 1970 screamers. To distance itself from Formula Atlantic, which also had 1.6 liter engines, F3 matched Formula 2, although the latter category had much more powerful engines.

Be that as it may, the two 1974 British Formula 3 championships were a bit of a joke. Brian Henton, who drove one of the March works team cars, won a large number of races, and both championships. He had little competition, mostly from Tony Rouff and Alex Ribeiro, both in GRDs.



Some of the races had less than 10 starters, a few non-championship events had to be boosted up with Formula Fords, and the sad state of affairs seemed to drag on forever. Just a few seasons back, British F3 events had almost one hundred entrants, and required many qualifying heats.

Both the public and drivers were in love with Formula Atlantic, which had better grids, more competition, and seemed to be on the way to replacing F3. It did not turn out that way in England.

Curiously, the poor support gave opportunities to drivers who might otherwise had difficulty breaking into the category. A large number of Brazilians raced in the series. In addition to Alex Ribeiro, Jose Pedro Chateaubriand drove the second, Brazilian sponsored works March. There was a Team Brasil, which ran cars for Marcos Moraes, Luiz Carlos Moraes and Julio Caio. Jan Balder drove the works March a couple of times, while Marivaldo Fernandes, the owner of the plane in which Carlos Pace died in 1977,  fulfilled a dream racing in F3 in England, finishing one race in fourth.

Besides these, there was even an Indian driver, Hannu Wianu. Australian Buzz Buzzaglo had some good outings, as did Portuguese driver Jose Espirito Santo. Uruguayan Pedro Passadore and Austrian Nicholas Von Preussen.

On the following season, F3 recovered. The 100-plus entrants never again became a reality (Formula Ford 1600 filled this role), but by and large British F3 continued to be the foremost producer of Formula 1 talent for many years.

Carlos de Paula is a translator, writer and auto racing historian based in Miami

Jacques Villeneuve's accident

Not the son, the uncle. Just if you are wondering.

Yesterday, I found a newspaper from Montreal at my local supermarket, and bought it, to practice a little bit of my French. In the sports section, there was a news report about an accident suffered by Jacques Villeneuve.

I did not find any report on the specialized press, maybe I missed it. I don't know, but the fact is the lesser known Villeneuve, and for that matter, lesser known Jacques Villeneuve, had been a F1 driver (albeit unsuccessful), an Indycar car race winner, a Can-Am champion, and a notable Formula Atlantic driver.

Jacques, like older brother Gilles, began racing in snowmobiles. And it was in one of the contraptions that Jacques had an accident, that resulted in a perforated lung, among other problems.

The injuries are not life-threatening, and it seems the 59-year old will recover. Whether the French Canadian will muster the will to race snowmobiles again, I do not know.

Carlos de Paula is a translator, writer and auto racing historian living in Miami

Brazilian drivers in Formula 3, 1992

Gil de Ferran pictured

1992 was a very active year for Brazilian drivers in international F-3. Gil de Ferran won the English championship netting 7 wins, 5 second places and 2 third places, driving the Honda powered Reynard from the Paul Stewart stables. His teammate was Brazilian Andre Ribeiro, who only scored points four times, with the best result a fourth place in the penultimate round in Truxthon. Oswaldo Negri drove for West Surrey's  Reynard Honda, and his best result was a second place. He scored points on several occasions. The fourth Brazilian driver in British F-3 that year ended up being the only one to ever get the F-1, Pedro Paulo Diniz, who drove for Edenbridge in a Reynard Honda. The Sao Paulo born driver had 2 third places, earned earlier this year. He did not finish many races and one cannot say he impressed many people.

The most interesting fact of the season was the large number of Brazilians to participate in the Italian Championship. The prior year, Marcello Ventre had driven in Italian F-3, but the number tripled in 1992. Besides Ventre, Niko Palhares and Tom Stefani were also in Italian F-3, which by then had earned enough international stature, with good drivers. Among the participants that year there were Giancarlo Fisichella, Max Papis, Vincenzo Sospiri, Mimmo Schiatarella and Max Angelelli, all drivers of success in the future.


Palhares had the best performance among Brazilians, with two wins and two second places, driving a Dallara Honda. Ventre already drove a Dallara, with Alfa Romeo engine, and won the race in Mugello, also getting two second places. Stefani, from Goias state, did not have much luck, and his best position was seventh in Vallelunga.

Palhares and Ventre also participated in Monaco race, and retired.

In the Marlboro Masters, De Ferran came in 3rd, Negri was 6th, Palhares 14th and Diniz, 20th.

In Macau GP, De Ferran was the best placed, coming in 6th, while Barrichello ran in the category once again, coming in seventh, driving a Ralt Opel. Negri retired.

At the Fuji race, Palhares came in 4th, Maurizio Sandro Sala drove a Bowman Honda to 16th, Negri came in 17th. De Ferran retired.

In all, ten international F-3 wins. A good season.