From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia 1977 United States Grand Prix West
1977 United States Grand Prix West
1977 United States Grand Prix West
Summary
Race details
An already tragic Formula One season received exactly
Race 4 of 16 in the 1977 Formula One season what it needed to chase away the despair when the bril-
liant Mario Andretti became the first American to win
a Grand Prix on his home soil. After the deaths of Tom
Pryce in the South African race and Carlos Pace in a plane
crash, the United States Grand Prix West was a glorious
triumph for Andretti. It was the start of his two-year
march to the World Championship, and the first win for
the car that would usher in the ground-effects era, Colin
Chapman’s Lotus 78.
The first practice session saw Jody Scheckter, who
loved the tight oceanside circuit, fastest in the Wolf in
1:22.79, just ahead of Andretti in his brand new Lotus 78.
In the second session, Andretti went faster with a 1:22.06,
but it was Niki Lauda’s Ferrari that grabbed the pole in fi-
nal qualifying on Saturday in 1:21.63.
Date April 3, 1977 On Sunday, it was over 100 degrees as the field
formed on the grid. At the green light, Scheckter shot
Official name 2nd United States Grand Prix West from the second row past both Lauda and Andretti, and
Location Long Beach, California led into the first turn, followed by Lauda. Carlos Reute-
mann had also moved up from the second row and pulled
Course Temporary street course
next to Andretti on the inside approach to Turn One. His
3.251 km (2.02 mi)
braking was way too late, however, and he slid straight
Distance 80 laps, 260.08 km (161.60 mi) on through the turn. Andretti avoided a T-bone by brak-
Weather Sunny, very hot ing in time to duck behind him into the corner.
Pole position James Hunt was allegedly pushed from behind,
Driver Ferrari
though no one knows for sure, and when he hit John
Niki Lauda
Watson’s right rear wheel with his left front, he was
Time 1:21.630 launched six feet in the air, showing Watson the en-
tire underside of his McLaren. On landing, he slid
Fastest lap
past Reutemann and down the escape road. Hunt
Driver Niki Lauda Ferrari was able to make it back to the pits, and though his
suspension was bent, he carried on, and ended up
Time 1:21.65 on lap 62 missing a point for sixth by just two seconds.
Podium
Meanwhile, the trio of Scheckter, Andretti and Lauda
First Mario Andretti Lotus-Ford continued the battle they had been waging all weekend,
Second Ferrari
with Scheckter leading by 1.7 seconds after three laps.
Niki Lauda On lap 4, Lauda was pressuring Andretti and tried to pass
Third Wolf-Ford in the hairpin at the end of the curving back straight.
Jody Scheckter
Smoke poured from the tires as he locked the Ferrari’s
brakes, but he kept his foot down hard to avoid hitting
The 1977 United States Grand Prix West was a Formula
Andretti’s Lotus. The resulting flat spots on Lauda’s tires
One race held on April 3, 1977 in Long Beach, California.
caused a serious vibration throughout the race, and prob-
ably took away his chance of winning.
Scheckter maintained a consistent cushion over the
battle for second; after 25 laps, Andretti was 2.5 seconds
1
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia 1977 United States Grand Prix West
behind and Lauda was 4 seconds back. Even as they pe- there was none of that. So, it was a good, satisfying
riodically worked their way through traffic, the three win."
leaders never lost contact for more than half a lap. The
Long Beach circuit was not particularly suited for cars Scheckter held on for third place, and the scoring was
that generate a lot of downforce, and the new Lotus, completed by Patrick Depailler’s Tyrrell, over a minute
with its higher aerodynamic drag, could not match the behind; Emerson Fittipaldi in the Copersucar; and Jean-
straight line speed of Scheckter’s Wolf; Andretti contin- Pierre Jarier in the ATS Penske-Ford.
ually closed in through the corners, but could not find a The 1977 United States Grand Prix West will always
way past. be remembered as one of the magical days in US motor
"I was preparing for a real banzai under braking," racing history, as Mario Andretti thrilled the home crowd
Mario said, years later. "I needed to go from fifth to first with the third of his 12 career Grand Prix wins.
gear in order to do it, and the way the gearboxes were in
those days, I had maybe one or two tries to do that. My
objective was to do it if I was in a position at the end of
Classification
the race. Then I saw a twitch and, obviously, he had a tire
that was slightly deflating." Standings after the race
On lap 58, Scheckter’s lap time suddenly increased Drivers’ Championship Constructors’
by two seconds, and as he passed the pits, he point- standings Championship standings
ed emphatically to the crew at his right front tire, • Note Only the top five positions are included for both sets of
Note:
which had developed a slow leak. The tire began standings.
locking up time and again under braking, but
Scheckter decided he was going to stay out and References
go as far as he could. For 18 laps, he tenaciously
• Doug Nye (1978). The United States Grand Prix and
fought a losing battle as he held off each of Andret-
Grand Prize Races, 1908-1977. B. T. Batsford. ISBN
ti’s desperate attempts to pass as his deflating tire
0-7134-1263-1
got softer and softer.
• Rob Walker (July, 1977). "2nd United States Grand
"It was not at the point that the tire was really going Prix West: Patience At 11,000 RPM". Road & Track,
down, because it was the left side, not the right side, and 112-117.
it was not to the point that he really backed off any soon- • Gordon Kirby (April, 1997). "Proof of Concept".
er because his braking point and turning point for the RACER, 68-103.
corner was the same." • Pete Lyons (April, 2002). "One Day At The Beach".
On lap 77, Mario outbraked the Wolf and pulled inside RACER, 74-78.
him entering the hairpin. "It’s not that he went wide,"
Andretti claims. "I just got him clear at the braking point,
and then after I went by him, I distanced myself." The
frenzied crowd of 70,000 finally burst into rapturous ap-
plause as America’s best accelerated into the lead.
Scheckter’s despair was complete when Lauda also went
by on the next lap. The crowd cheered Andretti home,
deflecting considerable pressure from Lauda right to the
flag, as he won by less than a second.
"It is one of the nicest moments of my career, even
more satisfying than winning Indianapolis and re-
ally gratifying to have so many people pulling for
me," Andretti said. "The car remained perfectly
balanced throughout the race and the brakes were
superb." "It was not that I was given a break,"
Mario still insists. "I outbraked him clean. To me, it
was just as satisfying a win. Jody tried to say that
the only reason I passed him was because the tire
was going down; but if that was the case, he would
have had a lot of smoke and a lot of locking up, and
2
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia 1977 United States Grand Prix West
Pos No Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 5 Mario Andretti Lotus Ford
Lotus-Ford 80 1:51:35.470 2 9
2 11 Niki Lauda Ferrari 80 + 0.773 s 1 6
3 20 Jody Scheckter Wolf Ford
Wolf-Ford 80 + 4.857 s 3 4
4 4 Patrick Depailler Tyrrell Ford
Tyrrell-Ford 80 + 1:14.487 12 3
5 28 Emerson Fittipaldi Fittipaldi Ford
Fittipaldi-Ford 80 + 1:20.908 7 2
6 34 Jean-Pierre Jarier Penske Ford
Penske-Ford 79 + 1 Lap 9 1
7 1 James Hunt McLaren-Ford 79 + 1 Lap 8
8 6 Gunnar Nilsson Lotus-Ford 79 + 1 Lap 16
9 26 Jacques Laffite Ligier-Matra 78 Electrical 5
10 10 Brian Henton March-Ford 77 + 3 Laps 18
11 18 Hans Binder Surtees-Ford 77 + 3 Laps 19
Ret 3 Ronnie Peterson Tyrrell-Ford 62 Fuel System 10
Ret 22 Clay Regazzoni Ensign-Ford 57 Gearbox 13
Ret 8 Hans Joachim Stuck Brabham-Alfa Romeo 53 Brakes 17
Ret 17 Alan Jones Shadow-Ford 40 Gearbox 14
Ret 2 Jochen Mass McLaren-Ford 39 Handling 15
DSQ 7 John Watson Brabham-Alfa Romeo 33 Illegal push start 6
Ret 16 Renzo Zorzi Shadow-Ford 27 Gearbox 20
Ret 9 Alex Ribeiro March-Ford 15 Gearbox 22
Ret 12 Carlos Reutemann Ferrari 5 Accident 4
Ret 30 Brett Lunger March-Ford 4 Accident 21
Ret 19 Vittorio Brambilla Surtees-Ford 0 Accident 11
Pos Driver Points
1 Jody Scheckter 19
2 Niki Lauda 19
3 Carlos Reutemann 13
4 Mario Andretti 11
5 James Hunt 9
Pos Constructor Points
1 Ferrari 28
2 Wolf-Ford 19
3 Lotus-Ford 13
4 McLaren-Ford 9
5 Fittipaldi-Ford 8
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia 1977 United States Grand Prix West
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