F1 1982 - Grand Prix of Austria - video Dailymotion

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Transcript

00:00:00put in on the track to slow the cars down on the very quick loop that used to be taken flat out

00:00:04at about 180. It's all long sweeping straights. This is all flat out straight now. He's up to

00:00:11full speed. The turbos are getting over 180 miles an hour down here with their super powerful

00:00:17engines. The Cosworth engine car, this McLaren, that Barbara McLaren at Nickelodeon is driving

00:00:22very quick. This corner nowadays is almost flat out. They turn here to right-hander,

00:00:27taken, let's knock it down again, swinging out wide. Now we go over a little, it's blind to the

00:00:32driver, it was blind to you as you see, down another long straight coming on to possibly the fastest

00:00:37point on the circuit. Now the road starts to run downhill a bit. Their cars get a bit of a slip

00:00:44stream here. They'll be looking to slip stream and then the road turns slightly left and then into

00:00:49the Bosch curve which is a downhill sweeping right-hander. Very difficult entrance. Here we

00:00:55go. He's on the brakes now, turning into the corner, sweeping down the hill. This corner

00:01:00is governed by how well you get into it. From now on it's all flat out, car swinging out

00:01:04wide. The car goes very heavy on the suspension here and very heavy on the steering. See, I'm

00:01:09just knocking it up a gear there into fourth gear and then the two very tricky left-handers.

00:01:15The car goes very light over the brow of this hill. They're still doing something like 140,

00:01:20150 miles an hour, short straight and down to the next left-hand corner. Again, quick

00:01:26and wide and he gets, when the car swings out wide then he's got to get sharply back

00:01:30over the road. As we go up to the brow here and turn right, he turns into the corner on

00:01:34the apex of the brow. Down into the dip, up again over another blind brow. He goes and then down to the

00:01:43last corner on the lap. Medium speed right-hander. Well, I say medium speed, still about 120 miles an hour,

00:01:51130. Jocken Rindt curve, named after the greatest Austrian driver, or the great Austrian driver. Hard to say that he's the greatest against success that Mickey's had.

00:02:01And that's the completion of one lap. He's all start, finish line, flash under the car then. And the producer's kindly letting us ride with him for another lap.

00:02:13Well, and as Nicky... We've been watching the races regularly, we've been waiting in vain.

00:02:17Well, that fastest lap of René Arnoux was in 1980, and Nelson Piquet's fastest lap in practice was 127.6, which is some 11 miles an hour faster than the lap record.

00:02:33So there, you see, in pole position, Nelson Piquet, just behind him, Ricciardo Patrese, then Prost and Thornburg, Thornburg, Thornburg, and they're away.

00:02:43And coming through from the back is Kiki Rothberg, who has already passed, and there! Straight in trouble, straight into the Arnco.

00:02:50Can't identify for the moment, but as they surge away, let's have a close look. There's two cars identified there, and a third one going off on the side.

00:03:00A fourth joining from the pit road as he's gone out wide, and we will identify as quickly as we possibly can.

00:03:07We're looking up the track while I talk to you, but can't see them properly, but it looks already as though four cars are out on lap one.

00:03:16Meantime, it's one of the rabbits in the lead, it's Piquet, Nelson Piquet, the reigning world champion, followed by his teammate, Ricciardo Patrese.

00:03:25And Piquet, as they're coming down towards the Bosch curve, with Prost in third position, then Tombe, then Arnoux, then Diagelis, then Rosberg, then Alvaretto, and Derek Warwick is in about tenth position.

00:03:38And as they go round the Bosch curve, down towards the Texico bends, Nelson Piquet and Patrese will, of course, as they have in the previous three races in the turbo cars, be trying to build up a substantial cushion to allow them to come in round about the 25th or 26th lap to do the pit stop that we have been expecting in the British and the French and the German Grand Prix.

00:04:03And we think, and I emphasize, think, that one of the cars that has gone out is John Watson, the man who is in second position in the World Championship.

00:04:12Yes, it's very hard to see. I thought that most of those two cars, or two of the cars that got tangled down were red.

00:04:18That looks like Lauda going through there.

00:04:22But it's certainly Messi, Rosberg made a terrific start to the third row of the grid, and he's very keen to do well today.

00:04:29He's determined to win a Grand Prix before the end of the season, and he made as many points as possible.

00:04:35But it's going to be a hard battle for him here against the power of the turbos, although he qualified fantastically well.

00:04:41Yeah, and Rosberg is just behind Elio De Angelis.

00:04:45Now, there are the two Brabhams in team formation.

00:04:48Number one, world champion lap two, Nelson Piquet, leading his Italian teammate Riccardo Bertresi,

00:04:55winner of this year's Monaco Grand Prix, going up the ascent, the blind crest, which leads down to the Bosch curve.

00:05:02And here is a replay of the start. Now, let's try and identify the cards for you.

00:05:08All right, now they get away, and Piquet leads.

00:05:12Yes, Rosberg, you see on the top right-hand corner of the picture, made a terrific start.

00:05:17Rosberg going up against the pit wall.

00:05:19And then we'll, just as a tangle about now, we've got a couple of cars, here we are.

00:05:23A collision, maybe it's an Alfa.

00:05:26Two Alphas colliding, and there's a puncture on Tom Bale, the Ferrari.

00:05:29He's trying to get the car round to the pits, and Albaretto has hit the barrier.

00:05:34He's parked against things, so it looks as if there's been some sort of action, but we've missed the main excitement.

00:05:40Well, we can tell you, we think almost certainly that the two cars that went out on lap one were the two Alfa Romeos of Giacomelli and De Cesaris.

00:05:49And with Patrese now leading from Nelson Piquet, we can see that Patrick Tombe with a shredded tyre is out.

00:05:56The Michele Alvaretto is out. The leaders go past.

00:06:00And in third position, it is cross behind. Then Arnoux in fourth position.

00:06:05De Antelis in the John Player Special is in fifth place.

00:06:08In sixth place is Nigel Mansell. Seventh, it is Rosberg.

00:06:12And in eighth position, it is Derek Warwick in the Tolman.

00:06:16Derek, very, very confident. Now, look at this.

00:06:20You ought to see if the Brahmams have got it right.

00:06:25They're building up at least a second per lap increase in their lead.

00:06:30And it's Patrese leading now from Piquet and Renault's holding on.

00:06:39Unfortunately, once again, we've been witness to the world's best drivers not being able to get a clean start from the grid.

00:06:46And unfortunately, this is becoming an ever-present situation.

00:06:50Unfortunately, I think that this particular time, De Cesaris and Giacomelli have excelled themselves and done all of 50 yards.

00:06:58I think it is the two Alfa Romeo's that have had each other off, but we'll have to stand by to make sure of this.

00:07:03I return you back to Murray Walker and James Hunt at the Austrike ring.

00:07:06Well, looking at the lap chart, and we are now on lap three, it seems virtually certain that the two cars that we saw go out,

00:07:19and there is Patrick Tornbay limping in.

00:07:21Watson and Lauda are both okay and in the race, that's for sure.

00:07:25So it was definitely Andrea De Cesaris and Bruno Giacomelli, the two Alfa Romeo drivers who were out on that lap.

00:07:33Now, there are the leaders.

00:07:34Patrese going up towards the Heller-League chicane, followed by Piquet.

00:07:38In third position, it is Alain Prost.

00:07:41There is Patrese, Monaco Grand Prix winner.

00:07:44Now, the Brabhams are actually starting this race with dry ice packed around the fuel tank,

00:07:53and that is Patrick Tornbay coming into the pits on lap three.

00:07:58Obviously, to have that offside tyre change, the man who won the German Grand Prix at Hockenheim,

00:08:04his first Grand Prix victory last week, and a very welcome victory it was, too,

00:08:10after the dreadful crash that Pironi had in practice, because Ferrari really needed something to get their tails up.

00:08:16And as usual, they're changing not only the tyre that has been damaged, but all the other three as well.

00:08:23And the Ferrari team were practicing this in the warm-up period this morning.

00:08:27Their fastest was 11 seconds.

00:08:29Tornbay is talking to Forgeri in the blue shirt, that's the Ferrari team manager,

00:08:35and to frenzied applause from the crowd, Patrick Tornbay in the V6 turbocharged Ferrari accelerates away a long way down,

00:08:45and I wonder if we are now going to see an epic drive by the Frenchman with Piquet in second place behind Patrese.

00:08:52So, on lap four now, Patrese is leading, Piquet is second,

00:08:58Prost is in third position, Arnoux is in fourth place,

00:09:02in fifth position it is De Angelis, in sixth place it is Mansell,

00:09:06and in seventh place now it is Derek Warwick,

00:09:09and Theo Farby, his teammate, is in eighth position in the Tolman.

00:09:13Yes, Paul Patrick Tornbay, he must have got that puncture quite early on on the lap,

00:09:20and he's had to limp all the way around, which is a very slow business with the tyre flapping,

00:09:23because you can't go too fast otherwise you damage the suspension,

00:09:26and he certainly drove it very sensibly, but it's put him well out of the race.

00:09:32Well now, where are Nicky Lauda and John Watson?

00:09:35And the answer is that Nicky Lauda is in eleventh position,

00:09:38and John Watson is way down in 19th place, and this is lap five.

00:09:44I'm not particularly surprised, now we are looking at the Glatz curve,

00:09:50as they come up from the Heller-Leicht curve,

00:09:53and the two Marlborough McLaren cars, as we look at one of the Tolmans,

00:09:57the two Marlborough McLaren cars have had trouble all through practice in getting the balance right,

00:10:03they've had a lot of tyre trouble wearing their tyres very, very quickly indeed,

00:10:07indeed in practice they were only lasting one lap for the qualifiers.

00:10:11Now there is Nigel Mansell, followed by Keke Rosberg,

00:10:14yet Lafitte seems to be coming up through the field a bit,

00:10:17and that's interesting, because Lafitte, like his team-mate Shiva,

00:10:21had terrible problems in practice, and they worked very hard in the warm-up period,

00:10:26in an effort to get the car set up properly.

00:10:28Lap five coming towards the end of then, and I will give you the gap between race leader,

00:10:35the Bramham BMW, and the second one behind it, and it's Patrese leading.

00:10:41Piquet is 1.4 seconds behind him.

00:10:45Now there's quite a long gap before Prost goes through,

00:10:49and a long gap before Arnoux is still in fourth position.

00:10:53And there is Nicky Lauda.

00:10:56Now it looks to me as though Lauda is starting to make a charge and come up through the field.

00:11:01Lap six.

00:11:02Patrese leading from Piquet.

00:11:05Prost in the Renault third.

00:11:06Arnoux in the Renault fourth.

00:11:08De Angelis in the John Clare special fifth.

00:11:12Warwick and Farby are sixth and seventh,

00:11:16and in eighth place, in eighth place is...

00:11:25Well, looking across the circuit now.

00:11:28There, round the Bosch curve, and we are on lap six.

00:11:32And I remind you that these cars are lapping, even at race speeds,

00:11:36in not very much less than 150 miles an hour.

00:11:41There it is, 141.8 miles an hour, the fastest lap so far by Nelson Piquet,

00:11:48on lap five, and we are now on lap six, out of 53.

00:11:54There is Piquet, fastest of the circuit, but...

00:11:59Over the crest goes...

00:12:01His teammates, Riccardo Patrese.

00:12:04Now, we may look back down the field, and the next man you will see in the yellow Renault

00:12:11will be Alain Prost, as across the line to complete lap six go the two Brabhams.

00:12:16Now, I wonder what the gap is between them and the third man, Alain Prost,

00:12:21because we will be able to make some sort of estimate.

00:12:24While it's about five seconds, they need to pull away at a slightly faster rate.

00:12:29You must also remember that as the Brabhams are really motoring around this circuit,

00:12:36their fuel load is lightening all the time.

00:12:39Now, look to the left, and the next moving dot that you see, well, there's virtually a clear circuit,

00:12:45and we see it, there is Alain Prost in third position.

00:12:49So you can see for yourselves the gap between the first and second and the third man, Prost.

00:12:54In fourth place it is still Arnoux, in fifth place it is still New Angeles,

00:12:59in sixth place it is still Warwick, and seventh is still Farby.

00:13:02Eighth is Nigel Mansell, and in ninth position it is Derrick Daly,

00:13:07in tenth position it is Jacques Lafitte, and in eleventh place it is Nicky Lauda,

00:13:12ahead of twelfth place man Brian Henton in the Tyrell.

00:13:15And we look at Riccardo Patrese on lap seven.

00:13:24John Watson is in seventeenth place at the moment.

00:13:29Yes, poor John Watson, he'd had a very unhappy practice session here.

00:13:37He qualified at a time of one minute thirty-four, which was pretty slow, slower than louder,

00:13:41and yet he had odd occasions when he'd go out and they'd put a set of tyres on the car

00:13:44in the non-timed practice sessions, and was going much quicker than that.

00:13:49He's actually been in the thirty-twos at some stage, so they've had trouble with the car,

00:13:54they can't really diagnose what it is, or what it's been,

00:13:57but they've had very inconsistent performance, that's an excellent shot of Patrese and Piquet

00:14:01sliding their Brabham through that chicane, that's the slowest point on the circuit,

00:14:06and then accelerating away, and I can't say that looks like Williams to me.

00:14:10No, I think, I think it's Roberto Guerrero's car, it is, it's the end sign of Roberto Guerrero,

00:14:16and I can tell you that the two Brabham's are beautifully on target,

00:14:22because on lap seven, and they are now on lap eight, they were leading Alain Prost here by 10.5 seconds.

00:14:32So at the end of 25 laps, if they keep this pace up, they will theoretically be some 25 seconds or so,

00:14:39at least ahead of the Renault, and that would give them time to come in, stop, and that is Theo Farby.

00:14:46Farby in the towman, who was, what, in seventh position.

00:14:51I don't know what his trouble is, obviously, but he's been able to pull off the circuit, and it could well be that it's a heat problem,

00:14:58because with temperatures well up into the mid 85s here at the Österreich ring, we're on lap eight as I talk to you,

00:15:05it's very, very demanding for the turbo cars, and the Brian Hart turbo has not got the length of development time behind it that the Renaults have, for instance.

00:15:16Theo Farby walking away from his broken towman back to the start to report what has happened.

00:15:24In the meantime, the leaders have now completed eight laps out of 53, and we now look at Chico Serra and Mark Shearer,

00:15:34and behind him Manfred Binklehock in the ATS, and if you're wondering where Tommy Byrne, the Irish driver, is in his first Grand Prix,

00:15:42he is in 19th position, John Watson is in 16th place, and Derek Warwick too is out of the race.

00:15:49Well, this is appalling luck for the Tolman team, because Theo Farby and Derek Warwick have gone out of the race on the same lap,

00:15:59on their eighth lap, when we were hoping they were going to do so well.

00:16:03I can't see what the problem is, obviously, but there's certainly plenty of heat shimmering off the engine there,

00:16:08you can see the heat shimmering, and it's definitely a problem for the turbocharged cars in that, if nothing else,

00:16:16they had to run slightly less boost on their turbochargers in order not to overheat the intercooler of the turbocharger,

00:16:23that's the most susceptible part of the system to the heat.

00:16:39Welcome back to the Austrian Grand Prix, as you can see, Nelson Piquet is running a very close second to Riccardo Patrese

00:16:46in front of Prost and Arno in the two Renaults. The Brabham seem to be running according to plan,

00:16:50they're pulling out something like half a second or so per lap, and as Murray Walker earlier commented,

00:16:55it'll be very interesting in about 25 laps' time to see if they can make that pit stop we've all been waiting for

00:17:00for the last four or five races, and pull off what will be the first thing in modern Formula One racing

00:17:05to be able to pull into the pits, make the stop, and get back out and retain the lead, or at least go on to win the Grand Prix.

00:17:10De Angelis is going very well in fifth place for the Lotus, that's the best result they've had for quite some time.

00:17:16We don't quite know what's happened to Kiki Rosberg, he was very well placed, but he's either had an off or whatever,

00:17:22but we'll let you know as soon as we're brought up to date.

00:17:24We now take you back to the Austrian Grand Prix to Murray Walker and James Hunt.

00:17:28With Brian Henton, therefore, Superhen in eighth position in the Tyrrell, and on lap 11, it is still as we look at Henton and Lauda,

00:17:40and with Nicky Lauda, number eight being followed by Nigel Mansell across the line, the order is still Riccardo Patrese in the Brabham BMW,

00:17:49leading Nelson Piquet, in third position it is still Prost, in fourth position it is still Arnoud, fifth is Elio De Angelis, sixth is Kiki Rosberg,

00:17:59in seventh place it is Jacques Lafitte, in eighth place it is Brian Henton.

00:18:04Well, Nicky Lauda is definitely struggling, and I know that the McLaren team and some of the other Michelin users were not very happy with the tyres that they've had here,

00:18:27and felt that they weren't fully competitive, I think Renault feel that the additional speed of the Brabham at the moment is very much to do with the tyres that they've got,

00:18:36rather than being on Goodyear, of course.

00:18:38I wouldn't think that that was the whole of the story, because there's no doubt that the Brabham is an exceptionally good chassis,

00:18:44and the BMW engine is certainly producing plenty of power.

00:18:48But one of the strange things about this whole season has been that, there we are, that's just Piquet, the gap Piquet de Prost being 13 seconds,

00:19:00so the two Brabham's are pulling a pretty healthy lead now, that's going to be plenty for them to do their pit stops with,

00:19:05because bear in mind when they come out of the pits they'll still be faster than the other cars,

00:19:09although they'll be carrying a similar amount of fuel, they'll have fresh tyres on, and so they're quite capable of catching people up,

00:19:16and the leaders now are coming past Patrick Salve, who lost so much time with that first tyre, that he's really well out of the running.

00:19:25But the odd thing about this season with tyres has been, not that one company has particularly been more dominant than another,

00:19:31of the two companies involved, but they've both had their moments, sometimes Michelin have had a definite advantage,

00:19:38sometimes could you have had a definite advantage, and unfortunately for us enthusiasts of close exciting racing,

00:19:44they've very rarely been of similar performance together, they've always been one good and one bad,

00:19:49and they haven't come together, which has been a great pity for close racing.

00:19:53Now, as the leaders take Patrick Salve in the Ferrari, who is in 18th place, they are on lap 12,

00:20:03with De Cesaris and Giacomelli out of the race, Daly is out of the race, Albaretto is out, so is Keegan with steering trouble,

00:20:12and Patrick Salve has been in to change the tyre, but the real interest at the moment, with Patrick Salve being sandwiched between Riccardo Patrese,

00:20:21who is on lap 13 leading his team mate Nelson Piquet by 1.4 seconds, the real interest is, are either or both of the Brabham's going for the first time to last until half distance in the race,

00:20:35and come in and make this much-foughted fuel stop and tyre change.

00:20:40I can tell you this, that having talked to Paul Roscher, the BMW engine chief, they are more confident about their ability to do it,

00:20:49there is Piquet passing the gentlemanly Patrick Salve on the Bosch curve,

00:20:54and BMW are more optimistic that the two Brabham's are going to get to a beyond half distance than they have ever been before.

00:21:04They have a new exhaust system on the car, they have new cooling arrangements to keep the petrol pump itself cooler and avoid vapour locks,

00:21:13they have dry ice packed around the bag tank, and Patrese and Piquet, there is Nelson Piquet in second position behind the leader on lap 13,

00:21:25coming through to complete it now, and I will give you the gap as they go across the line between them and the third place man Alain Frost,

00:21:34and it's got to be, I would estimate, something like 17 seconds, that's Chico Serra, Winkle Hawk, and about to be lapsed by Ricardo Patrese, the German in the ATS,

00:21:46and his teammate Eliseo Salazar failed to qualify, they passed Farby's car, and the gap now is exactly 20 seconds on lap 14,

00:21:58so that puts the Brabham's right on, back ahead of their target, to build up a cushion between themselves and the Renaults,

00:22:07which are in third and fourth places still, that's to say Alain Frost and Arnoux.

00:22:16There's Piquet, he's got Chico Serra in front of him in the Fittipaldi M9,

00:22:21behind him, he's got Winkle Hawk in the ATS that he is lapsed,

00:22:27they're going round the Bosch curve, that's a 140 mile an hour bend,

00:22:31up into fifth gear, into the Chicana, the Texaco bends actually,

00:22:36and we are actually on lap 14 now, so that caption is right up to date,

00:22:41and as you see, De Angelis is in fifth position, and the leading three litre non-turbo car,

00:22:48and Keke Rosberg is in sixth position in the Williams,

00:22:52in seventh position it's Jacques Lafitte, and they really do seem to have got the tour,

00:22:56but going in the warm-up period.

00:22:58In eighth position, and the highest he has been certainly in this race,

00:23:03although he's been well up in previous Grand Prix's,

00:23:05Brian Henson with his teammate out of the race,

00:23:08and then in ninth position it's Nicky Lauda,

00:23:11tenth is Nigel Mansell,

00:23:13in eleventh place is Eddie Cheever in the other tour,

00:23:15but so they really are going,

00:23:17and in twelfth place Mauro Baldi in the Arrows,

00:23:20and this is how well Patrick Torbay is not going,

00:23:24because he has got behind him now Chico Serra in the Fittipaldi,

00:23:29and it looks to me as though Torbay is going to be caught and passed by Serra,

00:23:34and Winkelhock, and that's Anbaro Baldi in the Arrows,

00:23:39the third of the three cars that we're looking at now,

00:23:42but we can expect it to pull away,

00:23:44and there is Sura, actually Mark Sura in the orange arrows,

00:23:48passing Winkelhock,

00:23:50Tombe comes down towards the Bosch curve,

00:23:53and Mark Sura, number 29,

00:23:56is in sixteenth place,

00:23:58Tommy Byrne is still in the running,

00:24:01he's been lapped,

00:24:02but Tommy Byrne, the Formula 3 British Championship leader,

00:24:06in his first draw three in the Theodore car,

00:24:09is in seventeenth place.

00:24:11Well, you have seen the lap times,

00:24:20and you know that Nelson Piquet, the fastest so far,

00:24:25is lapping at 141 miles an hour,

00:24:29which is actually below Reddy Arnoux's 1980 lap record.

00:24:34Arnoux, who came to the start of this Grand Prix

00:24:38with the knowledge that he had been in pole position

00:24:41at all the three previous Austrian Grand Prix's,

00:24:44but he wasn't able to match that in this race,

00:24:46and here is Winkelhock and Sura,

00:24:49here are Winkelhock and Sura battling

00:24:51with Serra pulling away from them.

00:24:53They're having a terrific night,

00:24:55albeit well down the field,

00:24:57but they're climbing all over each other,

00:24:58and that's one of the great beauties of this Osterach ring circuit,

00:25:01because there are long enough straights to get a little bit of a slipstream.

00:25:04There is Ricardo Patrese, I think,

00:25:07just lapping John Watson,

00:25:09and that, I think, should underline to everybody

00:25:12the huge difference in performance of these cars on these fast circuits,

00:25:16which is really suitable for the turbocharged cars,

00:25:19but it's a very nice circuit from that point of view

00:25:22because they've got plenty of room to overtake,

00:25:24plenty of straights to get a slipstream,

00:25:26and so it's a much livelier race than most.

00:25:29Arnoux to the pits.

00:25:31I keep on saying this, it's happened again,

00:25:33and we're not seeing it,

00:25:35but I tell you that René Arnoux,

00:25:37the Frenchman who was in fourth position for so long,

00:25:41has come into the pits,

00:25:43and hopefully our Austrian producer will soon show us the Renault down there,

00:25:48and the Frenchman who had trouble in practice when he broke his gearbox,

00:25:52is effectively out of the points as Ricardo Patrese,

00:25:58who has now lapped John Watson,

00:26:00who is in 13th place,

00:26:02and goes on his way,

00:26:04and on lap 16 then,

00:26:06it is Patrese with Piquet in second position,

00:26:10still crossed in third place,

00:26:12but I wonder how much longer he is going to be able to keep going,

00:26:15and whether whatever it was that affected his teammate,

00:26:17Brandi Arnoux,

00:26:18will also affect him,

00:26:20but he's still in third position,

00:26:22and up into fourth place comes the leading three-litre car.

00:26:26Now there is the leader,

00:26:27Patrese,

00:26:28who has lap number 30,

00:26:29Mauro Baldi,

00:26:30and the leading three-litre car now,

00:26:32on lap 16,

00:26:34is that of Elio De Angelis in the John Player Special,

00:26:38then it is Keke Rosberg in fifth position,

00:26:42in sixth position therefore,

00:26:44and into the world championship points,

00:26:46comes Jacques Lafitte,

00:26:48followed by Brian Henson in seventh place,

00:26:51and Nicky Laude in eighth position,

00:26:53and now we see Brandi Arnoux,

00:26:56getting the mandatory and customary wheel and tyre change,

00:27:00just in case it needs doing,

00:27:02but something else is afoot.

00:27:13Welcome back to the Austin Grand Prix,

00:27:15and you're just in time to see Nelson Piquet,

00:27:17speeding back onto the circuit,

00:27:18having just made his first scheduled pit stop,

00:27:21for tyres and fuel.

00:27:23We witnessed that Renni Arnoux had pulled into the pits,

00:27:25and it wasn't only just for tyres,

00:27:26but we noticed that he was also changing his skirt,

00:27:28which might suggest that he's been off the circuit,

00:27:30and done some sort of damage to the skirt,

00:27:32but we have just witnessed the first Grand Prix pit stop,

00:27:36for BMW Brabham,

00:27:38and now it remains to be seen if the car can last the distance,

00:27:40and go on and give them the first win,

00:27:42having achieved the first in modern Grand Prix racing.

00:27:44We take you back to the Austin Grand Prix.

00:27:53Because apart from the tyres being cold,

00:27:55not having the grip these days,

00:27:56they have to run very, very low pressures indeed,

00:27:58where the tyres are cold,

00:28:00because of course as it gets hot,

00:28:01the air expands, the pressure increases,

00:28:03in order for the pressure not to get too high when they're hot,

00:28:05so they start on almost what's practically like four flat tyres,

00:28:09the car will slide about a lot.

00:28:11The interesting situation is that they're only two points apart

00:28:14in the World Championship,

00:28:15Atresi and Piquet,

00:28:17and I was quite sure that both of them will be out to try and prove

00:28:22who is the dominant driver today,

00:28:25and a lot of it will depend, of course,

00:28:26if they're equally matched throughout the race,

00:28:28as they have been in the early part of the race,

00:28:31then of course very much the results of the race could well

00:28:35depend on how their respective crews of mechanics

00:28:38do the two pit stops.

00:28:39Now we've seen Piquet in and out with no trouble at all,

00:28:42and a very efficient stop.

00:28:44So we now wait for the day to breath

00:28:45to see what's going to happen to Patresi.

00:28:48Well lap 19,

00:28:49and there is the race leader, Riccardo Patresi,

00:28:52who as James said has yet to make his pit stop,

00:28:54if he's going to make one,

00:28:55and we don't know for sure,

00:28:56but certainly in second position it is Alain Frost,

00:28:59in third position now it is Elio De Angelis,

00:29:02and Piquet has only slipped down to fourth position,

00:29:06because he is still ahead of Keke Rosberg,

00:29:08who is fifth,

00:29:09and therefore of course ahead also of Jacques Lapite,

00:29:12who is in sixth place,

00:29:13and all the rest of them,

00:29:14Henton in seventh place,

00:29:16Niki Lauda in eighth position,

00:29:18and Eddie Cheever in ninth place,

00:29:21and Mauro Baldi in tenth position.

00:29:23Lap 19 then,

00:29:25and that is very significant,

00:29:27there is the confirmation,

00:29:29that Nelson Piquet is still in fourth position,

00:29:34as Riccardo Patresi goes ahead to start another lap.

00:29:37Now, I can have to,

00:29:39I have to tell you that,

00:29:41I can look across and see the Brabham pit,

00:29:43as you are watching here,

00:29:44Riccardo Patresi driving beautifully smoothly,

00:29:47with a very commanding lead,

00:29:49and it is very clear from the attitudes of the Brabham mechanics,

00:29:53who are getting everything absolutely ready,

00:29:56they are still in their fireproof suits,

00:29:58two of them are still in their crash helmets,

00:30:00in case there is any fire,

00:30:02they have got the air bottles ready,

00:30:04they've got the fuel line ready,

00:30:06and I'm expecting Riccardo Patresi,

00:30:08that we are all looking at now,

00:30:10as he comes down to the Bosch curve,

00:30:12on lap 20,

00:30:13out of 53,

00:30:14in the lead,

00:30:15to come into the fifth.

00:30:17Now,

00:30:18he goes from the Bosch curve,

00:30:20into the left hand,

00:30:22he's in the Bosch curve now,

00:30:24this is a 140 miles an hour,

00:30:26fourth gear,

00:30:27change up into fifth gear here,

00:30:29into the Texico bends,

00:30:31third gear as he approaches the first left hander,

00:30:33up into fourth,

00:30:35this is 140 miles an hour,

00:30:38he goes down against third,

00:30:40this left hander,

00:30:42it's a very bumpy section here,

00:30:44and that's louder over the crest of the hill,

00:30:47and we're still watching for Patresi to come in

00:30:50at the end of this lap.

00:30:52Yes, they're quite ready,

00:30:54but there's no reason,

00:30:55I suppose,

00:30:56that Patresi will necessarily come in now,

00:30:58because we're quite a long way short of half distance,

00:31:00at the moment,

00:31:02and therefore,

00:31:03he can obviously,

00:31:04depending on how much fuel they started him off with,

00:31:05he can obviously go quite well,

00:31:07and he's gone straight past this time.

00:31:09Now,

00:31:10Piquet's stop cost him quite a lot of time on the road,

00:31:12because he appears to be nearly a minute,

00:31:14behind Patresi,

00:31:18and in fact,

00:31:19by being on cold towers,

00:31:20we've just had our captain come up on our little information screen,

00:31:23and he's now 61 seconds behind Patresi,

00:31:27so Patresi is still building away on the lead,

00:31:30of course,

00:31:31Piquet will now have a fair bit of fuel on board,

00:31:33probably more than anybody else in the race,

00:31:34the problem,

00:31:35the BMW engine being pretty thirsty,

00:31:37running all that far.

00:31:39So,

00:31:40Patresi may well,

00:31:41could stay out for another,

00:31:43getting on for 10 laps,

00:31:44before he necessarily has to stop,

00:31:46entirely depending on how much fuel they've got in.

00:31:48Unfortunately,

00:31:49we can see the back of the Bradman pit boards,

00:31:50but we can't see the signal from them here,

00:31:52because we're the wrong,

00:31:53we're the wrong end of the pits for them.

00:31:56Well,

00:31:57the way they bring the drivers in,

00:31:59is to hold out a big board,

00:32:01with their number in,

00:32:02and I'm talking about Patresi and Piquet,

00:32:05and the boards are going out at the moment,

00:32:08to show Nelson Piquet what his position is,

00:32:11and the answer is fourth position,

00:32:13and as James has said,

00:32:14he's just over a minute behind the race leader,

00:32:17Riccardo Patresi,

00:32:19but if the Bradman personnel,

00:32:21as we look at Riccardo Patresi,

00:32:23show him the reverse side of the board,

00:32:25with his car number on,

00:32:27and a red border around it,

00:32:29that is the signal to say,

00:32:30that he's got to come in next lap,

00:32:32and that board is being readied now,

00:32:35but which side is going to be shown to him,

00:32:37I don't know,

00:32:38but that's 21,

00:32:40coming up to half distance,

00:32:42and it's not the come in side,

00:32:44he's just completed his 21st lap,

00:32:47he being the man you are looking at,

00:32:50Riccardo Patresi,

00:32:51who leads Alain Prost second,

00:32:53De Angelis third,

00:32:54Piquet fourth,

00:32:55Rosberg fifth,

00:32:56and Lapid sixth.

00:32:58Well Piquet seems to be taking,

00:33:00an inordinately long time,

00:33:02to get his new tyres warmed up,

00:33:04but of course he may have come in,

00:33:06for some reason,

00:33:07because he wasn't happy,

00:33:08although he didn't appear to do anything to his car,

00:33:09he may have been unhappy,

00:33:10with the way the tyres that he got on before,

00:33:12were performing,

00:33:13but he's losing a second lap at the moment,

00:33:15to Patresi,

00:33:16and Keke Rosberg,

00:33:18who's been running right with him,

00:33:19since he came out of the pits,

00:33:20is keeping up with him very well,

00:33:22which is quite a surprise,

00:33:24so Piquet,

00:33:25is either failing to get his tyres hot,

00:33:27or would appear to have gone into,

00:33:28some sort of problem.

00:33:32Well there is Nigel Mansell,

00:33:33coming into the pits,

00:33:35for the second time,

00:33:36gesticulating to the back of the car,

00:33:38and from the rather despondent air,

00:33:42of the mechanics around him,

00:33:44I suspect that he may be retiring,

00:33:46but,

00:33:47John Watson is in 11th place,

00:33:49his team mate,

00:33:50Nicky Lauda,

00:33:51is in 8th position,

00:33:52and Keke Rosberg,

00:33:53is now right with Nelson Piquet,

00:33:56and,

00:33:57there's Chico Serra,

00:33:58and Elio De Angelis,

00:34:00De Angelis in the black and gold,

00:34:02John Flair Special,

00:34:03in 3rd position,

00:34:04on lap 22,

00:34:06and he's now,

00:34:07some 50 seconds,

00:34:08between the,

00:34:09I was going to say,

00:34:11flying Riccardo Patrese,

00:34:13he has very much got both wheels,

00:34:15all four wheels on the ground,

00:34:16but he's going incredibly quickly,

00:34:18and Nigel Mansell,

00:34:20is out of the race,

00:34:22he's out of the car,

00:34:23and,

00:34:24and,

00:34:25I suspect he will be trying,

00:34:26to get straight back,

00:34:27because his wife,

00:34:28Roseanne,

00:34:29has been taken,

00:34:30into hospital today,

00:34:32to give birth,

00:34:34to their first child,

00:34:35and I know naturally,

00:34:36that Nigel Mansell,

00:34:37has been on the phone tour,

00:34:38all the time virtually,

00:34:40will want to get back,

00:34:41very quickly indeed.

00:34:42We look at,

00:34:44Elio De Angelis,

00:34:45in 3rd position,

00:34:46on lap 23,

00:34:48the race being led,

00:34:49by Riccardo Patrese,

00:34:50from Alain Prost,

00:34:51in 2nd place,

00:34:52De Angelis,

00:34:53in 3rd position,

00:34:54Nelson Piquet,

00:34:554th,

00:34:56with Kenny Rosberg,

00:34:57right behind him,

00:34:58in 5th place,

00:34:59and Jacques Lafitte,

00:35:00in 6th position,

00:35:01but with 30 laps to go.

00:35:13And,

00:35:14Riccardo Patrese,

00:35:15who is leading,

00:35:16still of course,

00:35:17is now,

00:35:18some 32 and a half seconds,

00:35:20ahead of Alain Prost,

00:35:21Alain Prost,

00:35:22and gaining all the time.

00:35:25Yes, Elio De Angelis,

00:35:26having a terrific race,

00:35:27Lotus have really got there,

00:35:29John Pair Special,

00:35:30going very well indeed here,

00:35:31because,

00:35:32he is quite honestly,

00:35:33doing better than,

00:35:34better than a,

00:35:35uh,

00:35:36a non-turbocharged car,

00:35:37could be expected,

00:35:38to do here.

00:35:39Of course,

00:35:40Lotus are now,

00:35:41planning to run,

00:35:42Renault engines,

00:35:43next year,

00:35:44in at least one car,

00:35:45they'll be hoping to have engines for two,

00:35:46but, uh,

00:35:47there'll be some problem,

00:35:48when he was supplying them.

00:35:49And,

00:35:50of course,

00:35:51that'll be,

00:35:52an exciting story.

00:35:53Alan Prost,

00:35:54now in second place,

00:35:55some 32 seconds behind,

00:35:56Patrese,

00:35:57but, uh,

00:35:58and that should be,

00:35:59about right,

00:36:00Patrese,

00:36:0140,

00:36:02in and out,

00:36:03with his, uh,

00:36:04accelerating and decelerating,

00:36:05in 40 to 45 seconds.

00:36:06A bit of activity in the Bradford pit,

00:36:08they seem to be making,

00:36:09uh,

00:36:10preparations again,

00:36:11uh,

00:36:12for the pit stop,

00:36:13the mechanics are all poised at their,

00:36:15positions,

00:36:16but, uh,

00:36:17it's gonna be very interesting,

00:36:19because, uh,

00:36:20Piquet,

00:36:21has made his pit stop,

00:36:22and just doesn't seem to be the same,

00:36:23uh,

00:36:24performer,

00:36:25that, uh,

00:36:26he was before.

00:36:27Now, Patrese,

00:36:28I think,

00:36:29has gone past once more,

00:36:30so he's not coming in just yet,

00:36:32and there goes one of the tall,

00:36:33but that's Eddie Cheever,

00:36:34into the pits,

00:36:35he's got something,

00:36:36most of,

00:36:37on the front of his car sticking up,

00:36:38I think he's damaged the nose,

00:36:39or something like that,

00:36:40but they're gonna,

00:36:41yes,

00:36:42maybe he's just picked up a bit of debris on the circuit,

00:36:44but they're gonna give him a tyre change

00:36:45while they're at it.

00:36:47Well,

00:36:48they've,

00:36:49whatever it is,

00:36:50it's been sticking up for some time,

00:36:51and by the way,

00:36:52Alain Prost is now 22 seconds ahead,

00:36:55of Elio De Angelis,

00:36:56and we look now,

00:36:57at the Brabham mechanics,

00:36:59all set,

00:37:00to get Riccardo Patrese's,

00:37:02fueling done,

00:37:03and tyre changing.

00:37:04There are four tyre guns there,

00:37:06to unscrew the wheel nuts,

00:37:08there's a mechanic,

00:37:09with the high pressure fuel hose,

00:37:11ready to dump 25 gallons of fuel,

00:37:14into the tank,

00:37:15and,

00:37:24and,

00:37:25and,

00:37:26here is Riccardo Patrese,

00:37:27coming into the pit.

00:37:29And you couldn't have come back at a better time,

00:37:43because,

00:37:44here is Riccardo Patrese,

00:37:45the race leader,

00:37:46completing his fuel and tyre stop,

00:37:48and,

00:37:49it has been done,

00:37:50sensationally quickly,

00:37:52because,

00:37:53it took only,

00:37:5440 seconds,

00:37:55from the time,

00:37:56the wheel stopped,

00:37:57to the time,

00:37:58the wheel started turning again,

00:37:59and,

00:38:00Patrese has not only gone through,

00:38:02but he has retained his lead.

00:38:04Yes,

00:38:05Riccardo Patrese has gone out,

00:38:06just in front,

00:38:07but he's on the cold side,

00:38:08you see the car sliding around there,

00:38:09and,

00:38:10Alan Cross,

00:38:11went past,

00:38:12he must,

00:38:13he can't be very far behind now,

00:38:14because he went past,

00:38:15the pit,

00:38:16just as Patrese was going up there,

00:38:17into the first corner,

00:38:18and I'm quite sure,

00:38:19that while Patrese is warming his tyres up,

00:38:21Alan Cross will come right up to him,

00:38:23if not,

00:38:24get ahead,

00:38:25at the moment really.

00:38:26So,

00:38:27it's been beautifully done,

00:38:28and we now,

00:38:29certainly,

00:38:30for the moment,

00:38:31have a very close race indeed,

00:38:32in our hands.

00:38:33If we hold that shot,

00:38:34Rob,

00:38:35he's in comfortable sight,

00:38:36of Riccardo Patrese,

00:38:37and of course,

00:38:38he is the man,

00:38:39on the warm tyres,

00:38:40running,

00:38:42competitively,

00:38:43and everything,

00:38:44and he will have a lot more grip,

00:38:45than Patrese has,

00:38:46for the first couple of laps,

00:38:47it'll take him,

00:38:48probably,

00:38:49two laps to warm up,

00:38:50but he was giving it,

00:38:51it's a real stick Patrese,

00:38:52you saw him slide about,

00:38:53all over the place,

00:38:54through the chicane,

00:38:55and,

00:38:56this is very exciting stuff indeed,

00:38:58at last.

00:39:04Welcome back,

00:39:05to the Austrian Grand Prix,

00:39:06and an excellent,

00:39:07and very efficient,

00:39:08pit stop,

00:39:09by the Bradman team.

00:39:10Patrese was able,

00:39:11to come into the pits,

00:39:12take on some fuel,

00:39:13change tyres,

00:39:14and get out,

00:39:15and still retain that lead.

00:39:16It's allowed,

00:39:17I think,

00:39:21crossed very much closer to him,

00:39:22but,

00:39:23as soon as he gets some warmth,

00:39:24into those tyres,

00:39:25I can see him pulling away,

00:39:26yet again,

00:39:27so I think,

00:39:28barring any mishaps,

00:39:29we'll see Patrese win,

00:39:30his second Grand Prix,

00:39:31for the 1982 season.

00:39:32We return you back,

00:39:33to James Hunt,

00:39:34and Murray Walker,

00:39:35at the Austrian Grand Prix.

00:39:39And,

00:39:40coming up now,

00:39:41or rather Patrese is,

00:39:42to catch,

00:39:43and pass,

00:39:44and therefore,

00:39:45Nicky Lauda,

00:39:46in the Marlborough McLaren,

00:39:48who is in,

00:39:49eighth position in the race,

00:39:50and you can see the gap,

00:39:51between,

00:39:52Patrese in the lead,

00:39:53on lap 27,

00:39:54and Alain Prost,

00:39:55who has now got to pass,

00:39:57the,

00:39:58hero of Austria,

00:39:59Nicky Lauda,

00:40:00double world champion,

00:40:01and the Marlborough McLaren,

00:40:02ex-Ferrari driver,

00:40:04and,

00:40:05Alain Prost,

00:40:06is really closing the gap,

00:40:08and he should take,

00:40:09and,

00:40:10Lauda before the Bosch curve,

00:40:11indeed he does so,

00:40:12into the little left hand,

00:40:14into the little left hand,

00:40:15before the Bosch curve,

00:40:16and,

00:40:17er,

00:40:18here is the Frenchman,

00:40:21and by the way,

00:40:23the very strong rumour here,

00:40:25is that,

00:40:26René Arnoux,

00:40:27who of course,

00:40:28is out of the race,

00:40:29has already signed,

00:40:31for Ferrari,

00:40:32next season,

00:40:33and the supposition,

00:40:34is that,

00:40:35Patrick Tombe,

00:40:36and René Arnoux,

00:40:37will be the Ferrari drivers,

00:40:39because,

00:40:40there is no now,

00:40:41no love lost,

00:40:42between,

00:40:43Arnoux,

00:40:44and, er,

00:40:45Alain Prost,

00:40:46after Arnoux,

00:40:47deciding,

00:40:48that he was going to win,

00:40:49the French Grand Prix,

00:40:50against signals,

00:40:51race leader,

00:40:52Patrese,

00:40:53lap 27,

00:40:54out of,

00:40:5523,

00:40:56so,

00:40:57there is still 25,

00:40:58to go,

00:40:59at the end of this,

00:41:00and,

00:41:01into the pits,

00:41:02is there,

00:41:03Mark Shearer,

00:41:04in the arrows,

00:41:05for a Pirelli,

00:41:06tyre change,

00:41:07we've seen Michelin,

00:41:08tyre changes,

00:41:09we've seen Goodyear,

00:41:10tyre changes,

00:41:11and now,

00:41:12we're seeing a Pirelli,

00:41:13tyre change,

00:41:14and Mark Shearer,

00:41:15was in 12th position,

00:41:16when he came,

00:41:17into the pits,

00:41:18and,

00:41:19on lap 28,

00:41:20now,

00:41:21it is,

00:41:22Riccardo Patrese,

00:41:23leading,

00:41:24with Alain Prost,

00:41:25in second position,

00:41:26and there they are,

00:41:27the two first,

00:41:28and second men,

00:41:29in third position,

00:41:30it is Elio De Angelis,

00:41:31fourth,

00:41:32is Nelson Piquet,

00:41:33who is only just ahead,

00:41:34of fifth place man,

00:41:35Keke Rosberg,

00:41:36sixth,

00:41:37it is still,

00:41:38Jacques Lapite,

00:41:39and in seventh place,

00:41:40the first British driver,

00:41:41Ryan Henson,

00:41:42just out of the points,

00:41:43he finished seventh,

00:41:44in the German Grand Prix,

00:41:45eighth,

00:41:46is Nicky Lauda,

00:41:47in ninth position,

00:41:48it is,

00:41:49Mauro Baldy,

00:41:50and in,

00:41:51tenth position,

00:41:52it is John Watson,

00:41:54and, er,

00:41:55then,

00:41:56in twelfth position,

00:41:57behind him,

00:41:58it is Mark Shearer,

00:41:59and Tommy Verne,

00:42:00is still going strong,

00:42:01in fourteenth place.

00:42:05Well, as they settle down now,

00:42:07for the time being,

00:42:08it certainly looks as if,

00:42:09uh,

00:42:10Patrese and Prost,

00:42:11are pretty evenly matched,

00:42:12and we may well have a,

00:42:13a good run to the finish,

00:42:14on our hands.

00:42:15Patrese's pit stop,

00:42:16Patrese's pit stop,

00:42:17I have to say.

00:42:18Oh,

00:42:19yes,

00:42:20and that is Patrese,

00:42:21off,

00:42:22Patrese,

00:42:23off,

00:42:24in the lead,

00:42:25and the crowd floods forward,

00:42:26and now,

00:42:27sensation,

00:42:28I,

00:42:29I guess,

00:42:30maybe,

00:42:31and I am hypothesising,

00:42:32he looks alright,

00:42:33that his tyres were not yet warm,

00:42:35but it seems very surprising,

00:42:36he'd been going hot and strong,

00:42:37for quite a while.

00:42:38Anyway,

00:42:39it's now all up to Nelson Piquet,

00:42:42who is therefore up into third position,

00:42:44immediately,

00:42:45and once again,

00:42:46it is a Renault leading a Grand Prix,

00:42:48with Riccardo Patrese,

00:42:50sensationally out of the race,

00:42:52on lap 29,

00:42:54out of 53,

00:42:56but this time,

00:42:57we have seen the Brabham's come in,

00:42:59and refuel and change tyres,

00:43:01but now,

00:43:02on lap 29,

00:43:03Alain Cross leads,

00:43:05and in an amazing,

00:43:06these days,

00:43:07second place,

00:43:08a superb drive,

00:43:09it is the Italian,

00:43:10Elio De Angelis,

00:43:11in the John Clare Special,

00:43:13the first non-turbo,

00:43:14in second place,

00:43:15in third place,

00:43:16it is Piquet,

00:43:17and in fourth place,

00:43:19it's Rosberg.

00:43:21Well, a little bit of bad luck there,

00:43:22for Riccardo Patrese,

00:43:23I disagree with Murray Walker,

00:43:24I think that his car would have had sufficient time,

00:43:26for the tyres to have warmed up,

00:43:28I,

00:43:29the,

00:43:30we see a little bit of smoke,

00:43:31coming off the back of his car there,

00:43:32I don't quite know what that is,

00:43:33but,

00:43:34I think at this point,

00:43:35I've got to say,

00:43:36that it's just Patrese,

00:43:37succumbing to a little bit of pressure,

00:43:38by Prost,

00:43:39but,

00:43:40time will tell on that one,

00:43:41so,

00:43:42it looks like,

00:43:43my prediction of a Renault win,

00:43:44might be coming true.

00:43:45We return you back to Murray Walker,

00:43:46and James Hunt,

00:43:47at the Astroic Ring.

00:43:48It certainly wasn't cold towers,

00:43:49they had such a time to get warm,

00:43:50but,

00:43:51there was,

00:43:52there was definitely some,

00:43:53sort of fluid or substance,

00:43:54coming out underneath the tower,

00:43:55car,

00:43:56getting onto the towers,

00:43:57making the car completely uncontrollable,

00:43:58so that was extremely bad luck,

00:43:59for Riccardo Patrese,

00:44:00who'd been going,

00:44:01so well,

00:44:02and,

00:44:03as I've said,

00:44:04quite usually,

00:44:05jolly bad luck for us as well,

00:44:06because,

00:44:07we,

00:44:08for the first time,

00:44:09for quite some time,

00:44:10had a very close race on our hands,

00:44:11because it seemed that Prost and Patrese,

00:44:13were very evenly matched,

00:44:14and Patrese had made a truly,

00:44:15amazing pit stop,

00:44:16the Brabham mechanics were perfectly quick,

00:44:17here is the Brabham pit now,

00:44:18we're looking at now,

00:44:19and,

00:44:20uh,

00:44:21we're looking at now,

00:44:22and,

00:44:23uh,

00:44:24we're looking at now,

00:44:25and,

00:44:26uh,

00:44:27we're looking at now,

00:44:28and,

00:44:29uh,

00:44:30they will be bitterly disappointed,

00:44:33because Patrese was going so well,

00:44:34and he,

00:44:35also,

00:44:36Patrese himself,

00:44:37did a very good job,

00:44:38because his,

00:44:39his decelerating and accelerating,

00:44:40times were amazing,

00:44:41because,

00:44:42he was stationary for 14 seconds,

00:44:44in the pit,

00:44:45and yet,

00:44:46he was only about 32 seconds in front of Prost,

00:44:48if I remember rightly,

00:44:49when he went in,

00:44:50and he got out,

00:44:51several seconds in front of him,

00:44:52then,

00:44:53so he managed to,

00:44:54get in and out of that pit road,

00:44:55with his tight chicane in,

00:44:56now,

00:44:57as we look at Alan Prost,

00:44:58who's now leading very comfortably,

00:44:59he got through that very tight chicane,

00:45:01in the pit road,

00:45:02and booted it up the pit road,

00:45:03losing only something like,

00:45:04sort of,

00:45:0513 seconds on the road,

00:45:07for that slowing down,

00:45:08and,

00:45:09speeding up again,

00:45:10which is a,

00:45:11very, very quick performance indeed.

00:45:12Prost now,

00:45:13well in the lead,

00:45:14comfortable on his own,

00:45:15he's got,

00:45:16uh,

00:45:1730 seconds,

00:45:18uh, something more,

00:45:1926 seconds,

00:45:20on Elio de Angelis,

00:45:21and,

00:45:22uh,

00:45:23it really,

00:45:24now,

00:45:25looks like a case of Prost,

00:45:26nursing,

00:45:27to improve his championship situation,

00:45:29if he can win this race,

00:45:30very well indeed,

00:45:32an extra nine points,

00:45:33for Alan Prost,

00:45:34will put him,

00:45:35into the effective,

00:45:37lead,

00:45:38in the championship,

00:45:39uh,

00:45:40because he'll be second,

00:45:41behind Didier Peroni,

00:45:42who,

00:45:43of course,

00:45:44yeah,

00:45:45is highly unlikely,

00:45:46to be driving again this season,

00:45:47although I say,

00:45:48he's making a very good recovery,

00:45:49is,

00:45:50Brian Henson,

00:45:51having a very good race,

00:45:52his best yet,

00:45:53uh,

00:45:54for Tyrrell,

00:45:55I think probably his best Grand Prix,

00:45:56ever,

00:45:57running in sixth place,

00:45:58so that's a very good effort,

00:45:59by Brian Henson,

00:46:00and a good effort,

00:46:01by the Tyrrell team,

00:46:02who, uh,

00:46:03are running a very good car now.

00:46:05Yes,

00:46:06and Brian,

00:46:07who finished seventh,

00:46:08in the German Grand Prix,

00:46:09will be very happy about that,

00:46:10and there's a rather unhappy,

00:46:11I'm sure,

00:46:12Mark Shearer,

00:46:13coming,

00:46:14into the pits,

00:46:15in the arrows,

00:46:16in time,

00:46:17doesn't look as though,

00:46:18it's tires this time,

00:46:19because they're taking,

00:46:20the engine cover off,

00:46:21but,

00:46:22on now,

00:46:23that 31,

00:46:24Alain Frost,

00:46:25has got,

00:46:26a very secure lead,

00:46:27having seen,

00:46:28Ricardo Patrese's spin out,

00:46:29and I dare say,

00:46:30you saw,

00:46:31when you were looking,

00:46:32at the Bradman,

00:46:33with that long shot,

00:46:34parked up,

00:46:35on the Heller-Left curve,

00:46:37that the rear tires,

00:46:39were very definitely,

00:46:40glistening,

00:46:41in this very strong sunlight,

00:46:42and it looks to me,

00:46:43as though it certainly was,

00:46:44a mixture of oil and water,

00:46:45on the tires,

00:46:46that took him off,

00:46:47and,

00:46:48Nelson Piquet there,

00:46:49now you see,

00:46:50the gap between,

00:46:51Nelson Piquet,

00:46:52and Keke Rosberg,

00:46:53and it's quite clear,

00:46:54that Piquet,

00:46:55cannot go as fast,

00:46:56for whatever reason now,

00:46:58as he was going,

00:46:59before he came in,

00:47:00to refuel,

00:47:01and get new tires,

00:47:02and Alain Frost,

00:47:03on lap 31,

00:47:04is leading,

00:47:05Elio De Angelis,

00:47:07by some 27th seconds,

00:47:09with Piquet,

00:47:10about 12 seconds,

00:47:11behind De Angelis,

00:47:12in third position,

00:47:13Keke Rosberg,

00:47:14is right with,

00:47:15and there is,

00:47:16Tommy Byrne,

00:47:17Tommy Byrne,

00:47:18is out of,

00:47:19his first Grand Prix,

00:47:20it looks to me,

00:47:21as though he's spun off,

00:47:22because look at the nose,

00:47:23of the car,

00:47:24and,

00:47:25his hands are moving,

00:47:26but,

00:47:27er,

00:47:28I wish we could get,

00:47:29a closer look,

00:47:30at the front of the car,

00:47:31I'm worried that Tommy,

00:47:32isn't getting out of it.

00:47:33Yes,

00:47:34it's definitely damaged,

00:47:35no I think he's getting out,

00:47:36alright now,

00:47:37now he's waving his hands about,

00:47:38he doesn't look,

00:47:39he's just undoing his belts,

00:47:40and getting everything going,

00:47:41and, er,

00:47:42it, er,

00:47:43wouldn't surprise me,

00:47:44if,

00:47:45if Tommy,

00:47:46had just, er,

00:47:47made a mistake,

00:47:48out of tiredness,

00:47:49because it,

00:47:50it is his first Grand Prix,

00:47:51the effort to drive the car,

00:47:52for sure,

00:47:53is like,

00:47:54nothing that he,

00:47:55he will have ever driven before,

00:47:56and, er,

00:47:57he'll,

00:47:58I would think,

00:47:59would be feeling,

00:48:00feeling the pace,

00:48:01and feeling, er,

00:48:02the effort,

00:48:03a great deal,

00:48:04and it gets by this stage,

00:48:05in the Grand Prix,

00:48:06when you've never done it before,

00:48:07you're really feeling it,

00:48:08er,

00:48:09neck is getting tired,

00:48:10arms are getting tired,

00:48:11overheating,

00:48:12and, er,

00:48:13it's all pretty much a nightmare,

00:48:14so that's the end of Tommy's opening nightmare.

00:48:16And PK is slowing,

00:48:18as we look at, er,

00:48:20Nicky Lauder,

00:48:21who is in seventh position,

00:48:23I can tell you that,

00:48:24PK is not,

00:48:25he's only slowing,

00:48:26he's stopped,

00:48:27he's running backwards,

00:48:28because Kiki Rosberg,

00:48:29has gone up,

00:48:30into third position,

00:48:31there is the world champion,

00:48:33and, again,

00:48:34both Brabham's,

00:48:35are out of the race,

00:48:36PK is coasting backwards,

00:48:38down the hill,

00:48:39which leads up to the Hellenic,

00:48:41chicane,

00:48:42and that's just clear of the pits,

00:48:44so PK is running backwards,

00:48:46into the pits.

00:48:47Yes, I think he's just parking it out of the way,

00:48:49to get it off the circuit,

00:48:50yeah,

00:48:51and, er,

00:48:52get everything nice and neat,

00:48:54and out of danger's way,

00:48:56for other cars, of course,

00:48:57and that, of course,

00:48:59moves Brian Henton,

00:49:00into fifth place,

00:49:01on his way to two championship points,

00:49:03there's still plenty of time for him to inherit more,

00:49:06if he needs to,

00:49:07and he's,

00:49:08and he's running about,

00:49:09seven or eight seconds,

00:49:10behind Jacques Lafitte,

00:49:11at the moment,

00:49:12and, er,

00:49:13he's got,

00:49:14a very comfortable lead,

00:49:15on Niki Lada,

00:49:16well there's Nelson,

00:49:17PK pretty disappointed,

00:49:18we don't know what, er,

00:49:19ailed him after his pit stop,

00:49:21but, er,

00:49:22he never got, er,

00:49:23into his stride again,

00:49:24it could have been,

00:49:25that they put on a different,

00:49:26er,

00:49:27a compound on his car,

00:49:28that they,

00:49:29that, er,

00:49:30wasn't as successful,

00:49:31as,

00:49:32the plan that they had for it,

00:49:33and, er,

00:49:34of course,

00:49:35if that was the case,

00:49:36then, er,

00:49:37they, they,

00:49:38they would have been,

00:49:39having some useful information,

00:49:40of course,

00:49:41for,

00:49:42Ricardo betrays his car,

00:49:43of course,

00:49:44that's why the advantage of having two cars got,

00:49:45you can stop them at different times,

00:49:46as Bradms did,

00:49:47and then view,

00:49:48the form of the first one,

00:49:49because,

00:49:50even during a race,

00:49:51it's sometimes, er,

00:49:52er,

00:49:53good tactics to use a different compound,

00:49:54the track softens up,

00:49:55you can sometimes put on a softer compound,

00:49:56than you had to use,

00:49:58to start off with,

00:49:59and if that's the case,

00:50:00then Bradms would have been able to learn,

00:50:02from, er,

00:50:03Piquet's obvious lack of grip,

00:50:05and performance,

00:50:06and stick on, er,

00:50:07a more suitable compound,

00:50:08on betrays his car,

00:50:09but certainly,

00:50:10until the time that, er,

00:50:11er,

00:50:12we suppose it was his engine that blew up,

00:50:14but certainly something seemed to let go,

00:50:15underneath his car,

00:50:16and, er,

00:50:17spread fluids all over his rear tires,

00:50:19causing,

00:50:20thereby causing that crash,

00:50:21and that,

00:50:22looks like one of the McLarens,

00:50:24is it?

00:50:25just suddenly parked,

00:50:26there,

00:50:27I can't, of course,

00:50:28for the back of it,

00:50:29identify,

00:50:30which,

00:50:31which one?

00:50:32Well, no,

00:50:33it's, er,

00:50:34we'll,

00:50:35it's the one that's been,

00:50:36it's one of the Alfa Romeos,

00:50:37I think it's been parked there,

00:50:38all along,

00:50:39the interesting thing at the moment,

00:50:40I think,

00:50:41is that the,

00:50:42in this very,

00:50:43very hot race,

00:50:44there is now only one turbo car,

00:50:46effectively,

00:50:47in the running,

00:50:48and Brian Henton is coming into the pits,

00:50:50Brian Henton,

00:50:51who has worked his way up in the fifth position,

00:50:54is coming into the pits,

00:50:56and hopefully you will see it soon,

00:50:58but,

00:50:59meantime,

00:51:00with Brian Henton getting out of the car,

00:51:02obviously to retire,

00:51:03I was saying that the interesting thing,

00:51:05there is,

00:51:06Brian Henton,

00:51:07well,

00:51:08cruel luck,

00:51:09as Sura comes into the pits,

00:51:10yet again,

00:51:11we keep on seeing Sura come into the pits,

00:51:13now,

00:51:14I will get this out in a minute,

00:51:16that there is only one turbo,

00:51:18effectively,

00:51:19left in the race,

00:51:20there is Tombe,

00:51:21in the Ferrari,

00:51:22but he is well down the running,

00:51:24in 11th position,

00:51:25and,

00:51:26Prost,

00:51:27who is leading the race,

00:51:28is the only turbo,

00:51:29in the really top positions,

00:51:32because,

00:51:33there's a second place car,

00:51:35they've just seen it,

00:51:36there is Elio De Angelis,

00:51:37and he's about to be lapped by Alain Prost,

00:51:40I think there is De Angelis,

00:51:41in second position,

00:51:42Keke Rosberg is third,

00:51:44Jacques Lafitte in the Talbot,

00:51:46is in fourth position,

00:51:47Brian Henton was fifth,

00:51:49but now Nicky Lauder,

00:51:50moves up to fifth place,

00:51:51as we look at Nelson Piquet,

00:51:53explaining why he went out of the race.

00:52:04Welcome back to the Austrian Grand Prix,

00:52:05as you can see,

00:52:06Alain Prost still leads quite comfortably,

00:52:08from De Angelis,

00:52:09having his best results,

00:52:10so far this year,

00:52:11Keke Rosberg up into third place,

00:52:13Jacques Lafitte,

00:52:14the best place so far,

00:52:15for the new Ligier,

00:52:16and Nicky Lauder,

00:52:17in front of his home crowd,

00:52:18in a good fifth position.

00:52:19We return you back to Murray Walker,

00:52:20and James Hunt,

00:52:21at the circuit.

00:52:226th is Mauro Baldy,

00:52:23in the arrows,

00:52:247th is John Watson,

00:52:258th is Torbay,

00:52:269th is Ferrer,

00:52:2710th is,

00:52:28of course,

00:52:29they're all coming out now,

00:52:30these are the only effective runners.

00:52:32left,

00:52:3336.

00:52:34left,

00:52:3536.

00:52:36left,

00:52:3736.

00:52:38left,

00:52:3936.

00:52:40left,

00:52:4136.

00:52:42and you are looking,

00:52:43at the competitive terrain,

00:52:44and you are looking,

00:52:47Left 36, and you are looking at the comparatively new race leader

00:53:15of the Austrian Grand Prix, with Riccardo Patrese having spun out of the lead

00:53:20at his Grabham BMW, and that was Alain Prost, and here is the second place man

00:53:25and the leading non-turbo, the highest he has ever been in a Grand Prix since Brazil

00:53:30three years ago, Elio De Angelis in the John Player Special, and he is ten seconds ahead

00:53:36of the third place man, Keke Rosberg in the Williams, who is some 25 seconds ahead

00:53:43of Jacques Lafitte fourth in the Talbot, then a lap behind is Nicky Lauda, fifth in the McLaren,

00:53:50sixth is Mauro Baldi, seventh is John Watson, eighth is Patrick Tombe, who is climbing up

00:53:56through the field after his tyre change a long time ago, ninth is Chico Serra in the

00:54:01Fittipaldi, and those are the only effective runners, because for instance Tommy Byrne,

00:54:08who was retired, just was seven laps adrift, and so on down through the field, so really,

00:54:15if you take people down to two laps behind the leader, which is Chico Serra, there are

00:54:20only nine cars effectively in the running on lap 37 with 16 still to go, and I feel very

00:54:28sure as we watch Elio De Angelis in the John Player Special completing his 36th lap in second

00:54:35place, that there are going to be several more cars who come out, because James, the

00:54:40heat is tremendously demanding for both car and driver.

00:54:44Yes, it really takes its toll mechanically, and of course, this is a very hard circuit on

00:54:49engines as well, because they spend more time, more percentage of the time on the power because

00:54:55it's such a fast circuit, so the engines are held at peak revs for long, long periods along

00:55:01these long straights, and that also takes its toll, so as you rightly say, we can expect

00:55:06to see some more retirements before the end, and of course, we're getting pretty short of

00:55:10effective runners already.

00:55:14Yes, Patrick Tombey, who is in eighth position, for instance, is a lap behind, and we look now

00:55:21by Keki Rosberg, who in the Williams, the FW 08 Williams, the finished driver, is in third

00:55:28position, and he, for instance, is 41 seconds behind Cross, so the Renault team personnel who

00:55:35have had a very checkered Grand Prix year of 1982 will obviously be keeping their fingers

00:55:42crossed and everything else, I suspect, and signalling Cross very carefully to conserve his car, conserve

00:55:49his tires, and conserve himself, because 30 seconds on, in fact, rather more than 30 seconds,

00:55:57is actually a very commanding cushion to have at this stage of the race, 15 laps to go, including

00:56:02the one he's on.

00:56:04Keki Rosberg doesn't seem to be in any sort of trouble, the car is going well, he went very

00:56:11well in the warm-up, for instance, he was seventh fastest behind all the turbos, and only

00:56:16the second slowest of the three-litre cars behind Albaretto, who went out, but let's look back as we

00:56:24watch Keki Rosberg and remind ourselves that Mark Shearer was almost out before the race began, when he

00:56:32had to change cars just on the warm-up lap when an engine blew in his original car, then we had the two

00:56:38Alfa Romeos of De Cesaris and Giacomelli go out, Tombe had tire trouble, Michele Albaretto went off and out of the race,

00:56:46Roberto Guerrero is out, Derek Daly is out, both Barbie and Warwick, who were sixth and seventh in the

00:56:52Tolmans at the time, went out on the early lap, René Arnoux went out on lap 17 when he was in fourth position,

00:57:00Nigel Mansell went out of the race, and I suspect he's hurrying home to his wife, Roseanne, to hope to be with her

00:57:06when their baby is born, Manfred Winklehock is out, the leader, Riccardo Patrese, spun off in an enormously

00:57:15spectacular style, and he's quite all right, then Nelson Piquet, who had come into the pits like Patrese to see,

00:57:23and let us see for the first time, the ram of fuel and tire change that we had been expecting for the last

00:57:29three Grand Prix's went out of the race, Tommy Byrne is out, and now on lap 39, there are only eight cars

00:57:38effectively in the race, by which I mean not more than lapped once, and Alain Prost leads by 60 seconds

00:57:48from De Angelis, who is 11 seconds ahead of Rosberg, who is 40 seconds ahead of Lafitte.

00:57:59Keke Rosberg in third position on his own on the circuit, and some 30 seconds ahead of Jacques Lafitte,

00:58:18but behind, and I guess we'll probably see it soon, there is an enormous scrap going on between

00:58:25Nicky Lauda, Mauro Baldi, and John Watson for fifth position, with Lauda holding that place,

00:58:32fifth at the moment, just ahead of Baldi, who is sixth, who is just ahead of Watson, who is seventh,

00:58:37Tombe is eighth, those four, Lauda, Baldi, Watson, and Tombe are a lap behind the race leader,

00:58:46Alain Prost, who has just gone through to complete his 39th lap, there are therefore 14 laps to go.

00:58:55If a turbo lasts half the race, it tends to last the rest of the race, and there is,

00:59:09as you see, cross-leading De Angelis now, by 31 seconds, so the gap's coming down.

00:59:15Elio De Angelis in second place, coising up on Chico Serra in the Fittipaldi, who is in ninth position,

00:59:38and the interesting thing at the moment is, is the gap between second place man, Elio De Angelis there,

00:59:47and Alain Prost coming down very much lap by lap, and if so, if so, and we're going to check on it,

00:59:55is it because Prost is pacing himself, or because the Renault is going slower through,

01:00:00no reason that Prost has got command over. Well, I don't know, all we can do as we watch De Angelis go

01:00:07round the Bosch curve, and on his way towards the Texaco men, is to wait for Alain Prost to go past us,

01:00:15which he does now. I have started the stopwatch. You can see there that after 40 laps,

01:00:21the gap between Prost in the lead and De Angelis in second place, and by the way,

01:00:25we are looking at Nicky Lauda, who is now in fifth place, was 31 seconds, and I'll be able to tell you

01:00:35what the gap is now, because I'm waiting for Elio De Angelis to come through as we watch Lauda now

01:00:41into the Texaco men's, the race order continuing to be, Prost leading De Angelis second,

01:00:48and it's still about the same gap. Rosberg, third, Lafitte, fourth, Lauda, fifth,

01:00:55Baldy, sixth, Watts, seventh, Torbay, eighth, Chico Serra, ninth, and that's the last runner that really

01:01:02matters, because those nine people are the only people who are circulating the Österreich rink at the

01:01:11moment. Nicky Lauda crosses the line to complete his 40th lap, a lap behind the

01:01:18leaders, of course. Well, I wonder what's going through Alain Prost's mind now.

01:01:29Well, it's the usual situation, I think. A 31-second lead is more than adequately comfortable,

01:01:35and he'll be doing the normal tactics for a man with a big lead that's slowing it down,

01:01:41cutting down the revs of his engine. In fact, Renault, I believe, don't give their drivers

01:01:47a turbo boost control in the cockpit of their cars, which always seems to me pretty stupid,

01:01:52because if I was driving the car now and I had a boost control, I'd be able to turn down the boost

01:01:58on my turbo, because cutting the power a little bit won't hurt his lap times very much. You've got

01:02:03plenty of room to play with a 31-second lead, but, of course, it will definitely take some

01:02:10of the strain off the engine. I didn't really understand that. I was speaking to Gordon Murray

01:02:14this morning, and he was saying that they give their drivers a control. He said it depends

01:02:18whether you trust your driver or not. Well, I said to him that, quite frankly, anybody who

01:02:21hires a driver they don't trust has done something fundamentally wrong in the first place, and so

01:02:27that's a pretty silly attitude of a team. They can't trust their driver. I don't know what

01:02:31they're going meta-racing for. So that certainly is what I would do. I would insist on having

01:02:36a boost control in the cockpit and turn it right down to keep the car in one piece. That all

01:02:41helps. But anyway, he'll be cruising along, concentrating hard, trying not to make any

01:02:44mistakes, and keeping an eye on the gap to Elie, D'Andre, which I'm sure he'd be quite

01:02:49happy to let slip a little bit, because it's not by how much you win a race that matters.

01:02:55It's just the fact that you win it.

01:02:58Well, with the positions fairly static now, and we are on lap 43 out of 53, with Alain

01:03:05Prost that we look at now leading, it's worth mentioning Mauro Baldi, who is driving an

01:03:10excellent race. This is the little Italian's first season in Formula One. He's already got

01:03:17one sixth place behind him. He's in sixth position at the moment. He finished sixth in

01:03:21Holland to give him one world championship point. Alain Prost competing another lap there.

01:03:27I did take the gap between himself and Elio De Angelis on the previous lap, and it's staying

01:03:33almost exactly at 32 seconds. So it really does look as though Alain Prost has very much

01:03:40got the race under his control. The little Frenchman who was so injured and incensed when

01:03:47his teammate, René Arnoux, decided he would win the French Grand Prix, because although

01:03:54Prost was in second place at the end of the race, it had been agreed that in order to increase

01:03:58his world championship chances, Arnoux would let him through if necessary. And Prost has

01:04:03actually now lapped Jacques Lafitte, his countryman, the Frenchman in the Talbot, who is in fourth

01:04:10place. And the Frenchman that we're looking at now, who had trouble in the warm-up period,

01:04:18they got that right, bad oil leak in the vein of the engine, will be beautifully settled

01:04:23down into a race-winning rhythm now. He only has to keep that rhythm up, watch the turbo boost

01:04:32gauge, watch his revs, watch his positioning on the circuit, all the usual sort of things,

01:04:36keep clear of the kerbs, so that he doesn't risk damaging his suspension. Look after his

01:04:43own reactions, and he knows that he is going to have yet another Grand Prix victory behind

01:04:48him. And number 15, Alain Prost, who has already won five Grand Prix's in his career, with six

01:04:55pole positions. The man who was the junior world championship car driver in 1975, is on his

01:05:03way then to his sixth Grand Prix. And in time, the only real interest in the race down the

01:05:09field is that Patrick Tombe is indeed charging, and as we forecast, and has now caught John Watson,

01:05:17who is in seventh place, and closing up on him.

01:05:32Lauda is fifth and close to Lafitte, just ahead of Mauro Baldi, and Patrick Tombe is gaining

01:05:39on those two.

01:05:56Well, we may be headed for a little bit of interest around second place, because Kiki

01:06:00Rosberg has slowly but surely been chipping away at the gap with Elio De Angelis, and he's

01:06:06now only six seconds behind him, and therefore he's close enough to see him, and that's always

01:06:10a little bit of a stimulus for the man behind. But now we're looking at race leader Alan Prost,

01:06:15and there is Nicky Lauda. Is it, or is it John Watson? It's John Watson, in fact, going very

01:06:23slowly, headed for the pits by the look of things. So Watson in trouble, can't see what's wrong,

01:06:28but he doesn't appear to be hurrying into the pits. So, by the way he's cruising around, that

01:06:33looks sadly to be at the end of John Watson's race. Meanwhile, as I say, Rosberg is chipping

01:06:40very slowly away at De Angelis' lead, down about five and a half seconds now, and if he can catch

01:06:48him by the end of the race, of course that'll be, that could develop into quite a battle.

01:06:52De Angelis is, does not have a job Watson just cruising into the pits. Disappointing

01:06:59for him is, where things are looking very good for the world championship. I think his suspension

01:07:04failure, which is what it was in Germany last weekend, that something went wrong with the

01:07:07front suspension, was a bitter blow to his championship hopes, and his whole performance

01:07:13this weekend have not really been up to the championship form. And I think that was expected

01:07:18by most people, but it's disappointing that they should be sort of evaporating quite so

01:07:23fast, all of a sudden. There is De Angelis, and there he is, you see, Rosberg's got that

01:07:30gap down to five and a bit seconds now, from six seconds only a lap and a half ago. So,

01:07:35Rosberg is coming at De Angelis, and De Angelis' strength, and that was Rosberg just coming

01:07:41to the shot, as it changed there, so he's in sight. And that, of course, there is Rosberg

01:07:46behind, and that, of course, is always, that gives you a little bit of added adrenaline,

01:07:50a little bit of push when you get, the closer you get to your opponent, the better you can

01:07:54see him, the more attractive he looks as a target to pass. And, whilst we know that Rosberg

01:08:00is certainly very, very strong, and very fit, and can definitely, and will definitely,

01:08:05go all the way fighting through the finish line. We have a little question mark over

01:08:11earlier, Janis, just how fit and strong he is to put up a fight at the end of the race.

01:08:15And when I say, there's no question that he's fit, and there's no question that he's reasonably

01:08:20strong, but it's the old story, these cars really are so hard to drive. They really are

01:08:25just about beyond reasonable physical limits. So, it looks to me as if De Angelis is struggling

01:08:32a little bit to protect that lead, and we may be in for a close run in for second place

01:08:37by the end of the race.

01:08:38Lap 48, and the gap now, this is the only real excitement in the race, is down to 4.4 seconds

01:08:50between Elio De Angelis in second place on his 48th lap and Kiki Rosberg in third position.

01:08:57And the really exciting thing is that it seems pretty clear that the World Championship is going to go

01:09:02right down to the last race at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas before it is decided, because if, if,

01:09:09Kiki Rosberg could get ahead of Elio De Angelis, it would give him another two World Championship points,

01:09:15and you can see how close to it he is now. That would give him 33 points, and he would then

01:09:21only be one point behind Croft, who would be effectively, I think, leading the World Championship,

01:09:27because it must be impossible for Pironi to come back. Now, Tombe is up into sixth position

01:09:33behind this lot, and on lap 48, the race order is Alain Prost leading by 30 seconds.

01:09:40Elio De Angelis less than four seconds almost now, ahead of Kiki Rosberg, who is third.

01:09:46Jacques Lafitte is fourth, Niki Lauda is in fifth position, Patrick Tombe is sixth ahead of Baldy, seventh,

01:09:54Sarah is eighth, and John Watson is out of the race now, so there are only eight runners

01:10:00on lap 49 in this 53-lap race. Here is the battle for second place, and that is Prost, Prost's car.

01:10:09The Renault is in flames, the race leader is out. Alain Prost, it's happened yet again.

01:10:15First of all, our new out, now Prost out, and we're going to have Elio De Angelis or Kiki Rosberg

01:10:21winning the Austrian Grand Prix. What incredible drama.

01:10:24Well, there we go, and that looked like blown turbochargers.

01:10:30Alain Prost, very disappointed, very angry with the car, and I have to say that it was,

01:10:37I think it might be quite coincidental, on the other hand it might be well relevant,

01:10:41that what I was saying just a little while ago about Renault not trusting their drivers

01:10:45to give them a boost knob, which, as well as being good for reliability in the race,

01:10:49is also good to be able to turn it up just to pass somebody, to get a little bit of extra power when needed.

01:10:54If you don't trust your driver, you ask for trouble, and I have to say,

01:10:58that if he turned his boost down by the equivalent of, say, 50 horsepower,

01:11:02and there is Tombe going through past Lauda into now third place.

01:11:10So Patrick Tombe is really scoring the points as the leaders drop out,

01:11:14that was Tombe third, Lauda briefly went into third with Prost demise,

01:11:18now sharply pushed back down to fourth, and, of course,

01:11:23Rosberg is now catching De Angelis and they're racing for the lead.

01:11:27Welcome back to the Austrian Grand Prix and what a turnabout we're seeing now.

01:11:41It looks like we're going to see the first win for a Lotus since the 1978 season.

01:11:46I can see that Keke Rosberg has really got the bit between his teeth

01:11:49and he's trying very, very hard indeed to catch De Angelis.

01:11:52There is only one or two laps left, I don't think he can do it,

01:11:55but I certainly think it would be worthwhile watching him try to do.

01:11:58We return you back to the circuit to Murray Walker and James Hunt.

01:12:00I was watching him through the corners and driving very smoothly and very well,

01:12:16and at the moment he looks to be handling things extremely well,

01:12:19because it's a moment of great pressure.

01:12:21In sight of the chequered flag of your first Grand Prix,

01:12:23with the most unfortunate side of somebody breathing down your neck right behind in your mirrors,

01:12:28makes the whole thing rather, sort of takes the icing off the cake.

01:12:32Out of the Bosch curve, they are now on lap 51 in this 53-lap race,

01:12:40and what a grandstand finish it's going to be for the Austrian Grand Prix.

01:12:45There is the fiercely charging Keke Rosberg, who was bitterly disappointed

01:12:49when he took pole position in the British Grand Prix,

01:12:52to have his engine die on him on the warm-up lap.

01:12:55He started from the back of the grid.

01:12:57He was confidently expecting to win the British Grand Prix,

01:12:59but that victory was denied him,

01:13:01and it could be that he's going to come good here.

01:13:04It could be, but only if he can catch and get past Elio De Angelis.

01:13:08They're coming up now to complete lap 51.

01:13:12Lafitte is still third.

01:13:14Torbay, four.

01:13:15Lauda, fifth.

01:13:16Valdi and the arrows, sixth.

01:13:18The gap between De Angelis and Rosberg is now down to 2.2 seconds

01:13:24as they go into the Heller-Leak chicane.

01:13:26That is third gear as they come out of it.

01:13:29Accelerator way up to 175 miles an hour towards the glass curve.

01:13:34Well, De Angelis has got enough to keep his knees to stay in front.

01:13:37That is proved.

01:13:38His big problem is to stay cool,

01:13:40because if he starts to get flustered,

01:13:42he runs the risk of making a mistake and or driving messily,

01:13:46and that will take speed off,

01:13:48because when he drives smoothly and coolly,

01:13:51as he has been doing on some laps,

01:13:53he's got a bit ragged on others.

01:13:55When he drives it smoothly,

01:13:56he keeps his knees in front of Rosberg,

01:13:58but Rosberg is steadily chipping away,

01:14:00and he looks to be just that little bit closer

01:14:02as they come down to go on around the Bosch curve

01:14:05for the penultimate time.

01:14:07He's got a lap and a half to go.

01:14:09Yes, and I am quite sure

01:14:13that when Keke Rosberg catches De Angelis,

01:14:17not if he's going to catch him,

01:14:19but when he catches him,

01:14:20Elio De Angelis is without doubt

01:14:22going to have the widest car on the circuit.

01:14:25He will be going into the corners as wide as possible.

01:14:28He will be keeping Rosberg back as much as he possibly can,

01:14:32and even somebody as determined as Keke Rosberg,

01:14:35and he's probably the most determined driver on the track.

01:14:38He's going to have all his time cut out

01:14:40to get past Elio De Angelis.

01:14:42But they're coming up to back markers.

01:14:45They're coming through now to complete lap 52,

01:14:48and into the last lap in this race,

01:14:51and the gap as they do that is 1.64 seconds.

01:14:56Yes, well, I don't think if De Angelis keeps cool,

01:14:58he's not going to have to get wide

01:15:00because he's got enough need to keep it,

01:15:02to just keep the gap going,

01:15:04but Rosberg is really charging,

01:15:06but De Angelis has got just about enough air

01:15:08to keep that gap for the rest of the lap.

01:15:11But what an exciting finish to the Grand Prix.

01:15:13Rosberg is imperceptibly closing.

01:15:17Any minute now, Rosberg,

01:15:19Rosberg coming in fast into the corner,

01:15:20he's giving it everything,

01:15:21and now if Rosberg is close enough,

01:15:23he's close enough,

01:15:24he'll be beginning to feel the effect of the toe

01:15:26from De Angelis' car,

01:15:27he is in fact close enough,

01:15:29and now Rosberg is in position just about

01:15:31to have a go.

01:15:32He is going to be able to catch him

01:15:33before the end of the lap.

01:15:34Fantastic finish.

01:15:36Well, let's see.

01:15:37Rosberg right with De Angelis now.

01:15:39One of these two is going to win

01:15:40the Austrian Grand Prix.

01:15:41They go into the Bosch Cove for the last time.

01:15:44I can tell you that the whole Lotus team

01:15:46and the whole Williams team

01:15:48are crowding the pit rails.

01:15:49It's going to be one of the closest

01:15:51that's for all three finishes for a long, long time.

01:15:53Into the Texaco bend.

01:15:55140 miles an hour.

01:15:57On the left, De Angelis leading on the right,

01:15:59Rosberg second.

01:16:00Well, Rosberg's only chance.

01:16:02This is a do-or-die manoeuvre into the last corner,

01:16:05and he's coming out quicker through there.

01:16:07He's getting the toe.

01:16:09Can he get inside?

01:16:10Now, De Angelis taking the inside line.

01:16:12Rosberg getting the toe.

01:16:13Rosberg should try the outside.

01:16:15Oh, it's fantastic stuff.

01:16:19De Angelis kept it well blocked.

01:16:20That's very excusable on the last lap,

01:16:22but Rosberg's coming at him.

01:16:24He's going to finish side by side,

01:16:26and De Angelis has just held it.

01:16:28Up goes Elio De Angelis' hand,

01:16:31and the young Roman has won his first Grand Prix,

01:16:35and he has put the hard-trying John Clare Special Lotus Team

01:16:40back into contention again.

01:16:42And this is marvellous news for them.

01:16:45They've given us the news yesterday

01:16:47that next year they will be using Renault engines,

01:16:50although maybe after the troubles that we've seen today

01:16:53and in the previous Grand Prix,

01:16:55they need to make sure they've got a reliable one.

01:16:57But Elio De Angelis, as Jacques Lafitte finishes in third position,

01:17:01is justifiably beside himself with joy.

01:17:05He has sometimes been accused of being more of a playboy

01:17:09than a racing driver,

01:17:10but he has proved today that that is certainly not the case.

01:17:14There is Nicky Lauda,

01:17:17who is coming through in fifth position,

01:17:19and that is Torbay finishing fourth,

01:17:22and behind Lauda will be Mauro Balbi.

01:17:25So, Elio De Angelis has won his first Grand Prix,

01:17:29the Austrian Grand Prix,

01:17:31by less than half a car's length from Kiki Rosberg.

F1 1982 - Grand Prix of Austria

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