THE UNKNOWN LEGACY OF CARLOS PACE

                                  Carlos Pace after winning the 1975 Brazilian Grand Prix                                            Courtesy: FOM

With two races more to complete yet another F1 season, one thing is sure - the eventual winner will be decided in the finale showdown at Abu Dhabi. Lewis Hamilton leading with 24 points to his closest rival and team mate Nico Rosberg. Hamilton can win this weekend and can take a lead of 49 points (assuming Rosberg does not finish) and yet lose the title if he fails to finish and Rosberg wins the last race. How? Courtesy of double points awarded for the last race; no matter what happens in Brazil, technically it is not over! and if recent history is to go by, last races have decided the world champions in the past.

Abu Dhabi is sometime away and for now the attention shifts to Autodromo José Carlos Pace in Sao Paulo, Brazil. The circuit still famous for its traditional name 'Interlagos' named after its location in a region between two artificial lakes (Guarapiranga and Billings) - built in the early part of the 20^th century for water and power supplies to the city. Interlagos (translated 'between lakes') more known to world for its Formula One has been involved in the game since the 1970's. It is here in the vicinity we saw many household names emerge and one such driver happened to be 'Carlos Pace' - whose life was cut short with an air accident and lost his life at the age of 32.

BRAZILIANS IN FORMULA ONE

Till date, there have been 30 drivers from Brazil who have competed in F1. There were five drivers who tried their hand unsuccessfully in the 1950's. It was not until the 70's the world saw the emergence of Brazilian drivers in Formula One. It started with Emerson Fittipaldi - who by winning the 1972 and 1974 driver's world championship helped to popularise the sport across Brazil. A contemporary of Fittipaldi, Carlos Pace too had to relocate to Europe to secure a future in F1. After a series of decent performances, Pace made debut in F1 with Team Williams in a March chassis Cosworth powered engine in 1972 - the same year when Brazil hosted the first F1 Grand Prix. It is safe to say, along with the Fittipaldi brothers, Pace was one of the early pioneers from Brazil to have made a mark in Formula One.

SAO PAULO - HOME OF FORMULA ONE IN BRAZIL

Sao Paulo has been the theatre of many spectacles as far as F1 goes in Brazil. It is no surprise, out of the 30 drivers sixteen of them were born in this part of Brazil. If you exclude Nelson Piquet (born in Rio and only non-Sao Paulo Brazilian winner of the home event), there are no other names to talk about in detail. The Fittipaldi brothers, Ayrton Senna, Barrichello, Massa and Pace - all had their humble beginnings in Sao Paulo.

In the late 1970's, the F1 action shifted from Sao Paulo to Rio de Janeiro. Jacarepaguá Circuit now known as the Autódromo Internacional Nelson Piquet hosted the Brazilian GP in the 80's coinciding with the rise of Nelson Piquet's stature as a triple world champion. Towards the end of the 80's, the attention again shifted towards Sao Paulo and it was not a coincidence that Brazil in Ayrton Senna was the next big star and he hailed from that part of the town. By this time, the circuit had been modified to meet the safety regulations and the name was also changed to ' Autodromo José Carlos Pace' in honour of Carlos Pace.

THE INCOMPLETE CAREER

Let us rewind back to the mid-70's, when Carlos Pace left Surtees team after having an altercation with John Surtees to race with Brabham midway through the 1974 season, a move which saw him perform more consistently. In the next year, he won his maiden Grand Prix in front of his home crowd much to the delight of thousands of fans who were gathered inside. It was Graham Hill's last appearance in Formula One and it was overshadowed by the 1-2 finish achieved by the local boys Pace and Emerson Fittipaldi. Pace would win two more podiums and finished sixth in the overall driver's standings to round-off his best season in F1. 1976 was a season to forget as far as Pace was concerned and all he could manage was 14th in the driver's standings.

The season 1977 started on a bright note with a second place in the inaugural race of the season at Argentina. A retirement in front of his home crowd and a 13th place in South African GP which is notoriously remembered for the deaths of Tom Pryce and the track side marshal Frederik Jansen van Vuuren.

The next race was at Long Beach and before that there was Race of Champions at Brands Hatch - a event which Pace didn't take part. He was back in Brazil on some business. On March 18th 1977, the private flight he was on along with his two friends collided with a hill near Sao Paulo during a storm and claimed their lives. Carlos Pace was 32 and another F1 driver casualty as a result of 'accident' - though this was outside racing.

Personally having followed (through books, documentaries, interviews) F1 personalities during the dangerous era, one can safely assume about drivers being shaken when they see their colleagues die and more so if it was on track. Racing was the only time when drivers were able to focus without too many doubts hanging on them. Formula One was indeed a lot different back in the 1970's and beyond; it was popular, had money, gave the thrills and all that could be lost in a matter of seconds, through no fault of drivers at times! It still retains the essence of old days - but is a lot safer!

The passing away of Carlos Pace was due to an accident though not on track. Nevertheless, it was an accident which cut short his life and thereby abruptly ending yet another talented driver in Formula One.

LEGACY

In 1985, in honour of Carlos Pace, the track Autodromo Interlagos was renamed to its current name Autodromo José Carlos Pace and since 1990, it has been a place which has decided world championships. Who can forget Kimi Raikkonen's amazing drive to beat Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso in 2007? the very next year, do you recall the scenes of the heartbroken local boy Felipe Massa to lose the title in the dying seconds of the race to Lewis Hamilton?

Bust of Carlos Pace at the Autodromo José Carlos Pace - home of the Brazilian Grand Prix

The legacy of Carlos Pace is that he along with Emerson Fittipaldi inspired a racer in Senna - who enthralled everyone with this ruthlessness on track and humility off it. It is not a surprise to hear this from Senna when asked about Brazilian racing in 1989 - " In Brazil we have had Emerson (Fittipaldi), (José) Carlos Pace, and now it's me. After me there will be another one. This is unrefusable." And since Senna, we have had Barrichello and Felipe Massa, who happens to be the last Brazilian driver win at home.

On a parting note this is something to remember. Most of the F1 fans were thrilled to have seen 'Rush' which chronicles the life of James Hunt and focuses on his championship winning season and the duel he had with Nikki Lauda. Carlos Pace was racing in 1976 though he did not play a part or had any influence in the outcome of the season. While the actual season was in progress, Carlos Pace did play the stunt double for Al Pacino for driving scenes, who in his role of Bobby Deerfield happened to be a F1 driver. This was a fictional account of an American racer who falls in love with a Swiss woman. Carlos Pace was credited for his contribution for driving his Brabham BT45 for the movie and by the time the movie was released, Pace was no more.

Carlos Pace as the stunt double for Al Pacino 

The movie was dedicated to Carlos Pace. He might not have been a champion remembered by people globally - he surely remains one of the favourite sons of Sao Paulo to have raced in Formula One. And a testimony to that is - the name of the track still remains in his honour in spite of Senna and his heroics. 

Lost Track: Circuits of the Yore IX - Jacarepaguá Brazilian Grand Prix

Picturesque view of the mountains from the track

Today on March 21^st fifty-three years ago, in a small neighbouring city to Sao Paulo Ayrton da Silva was born. At a much later stage before he started racing in F1 he had decided to change his surname to that of his mother’s. Senna fitted well as he started winning the British and Formula Ford championship’s in the early 80’s and thus knocking doors of the many constructor teams in F1.

He started his F1 career in the season of 1984, the year I was born. And before I could understand what F1 meant, he was long gone. I feel at times, I did not get the privilege of watching him race live on TV and all I got was to read stories about his driving and the way he went about racing.  In this edition of Lost Track: Circuits of the Yore, I will write about the circuit where Senna made his F1 debut with Toleman.

It all began in the year 1978 for this circuit; built around a city with backdrop of scenic mountains of Rio de Janeiro. It was a visual treat. The distance was just over 5 km; the circuit was a permanent racing facility and was the first from outside Sao Paulo. Brazilian Grand Prix was included in the F1 calendar only in 1973 (Interlagos), though the championships had begun in 1950. It was won by the local Sao Paulo resident Emerson Fittipaldi. It is interesting to note that, Brazilian drivers in the 1970’s were mainly from Sao Paulo. But the Sao Paulo was not going to be the only circuit in Brazil, as there was another circuit (modified and re-built) in Rio which was ready to host the event. The growing interests in the exotic place of Rio resulted in it getting a foot into Formula One. 

Jacarepaguá (named after the neighbourhood in which it is located) was ready to welcome the F1 world and it hosted its first Grand Prix in 1978. It was a significant one for Michelin Tyre Company as they registered their first victory with Carlos Reutmann winning the race. Emerson Fittipaldi came second and thereby scoring the first podium finish for Fittipaldi-Ford car.

 

After an eventful inaugural race, the event moved to Sao Paulo the following season. But it didn't last long. Safety issues with the track with complaints like bumpy track surface, deep ditches, inadequate barriers and improper embankments surfaced in 1980. In fact, prior to the race several drivers protested for the aforementioned reasons. But in F1, the show must go on and so it did, but Interlagos faced a lot of embarrassment. In addition to the concerns, with F1 becoming a glamour sport the slums of Sao Paulo was at odds for Formula One's new found international image.

Luckily for Brazil, Jacarepaguá was an alternative which was immediately available and from 1981, the race shifted to Rio. 

PASSING THE BATON:

Emerson Fittipaldi, twice F1 World Champion hailed from Sao Paulo. With his increased business interests, the country needed a new hero, not just in Sao Paulo. Though, there were many talented drivers, none could go on to win championships (Fittipaldi had won in 1972 and 1974). That was all to change at the beginning of the next decade. Nelson Piquet started out his sports career in tennis before switching to karts after getting bored with the former. He hailed from Rio and made his way to the top in F1 after advice from Fittipaldi to race in Europe. After creating quite an impression, he made his debut in the year 1978 with Brabham. By the time the Brazilian GP had shifted its attention towards Rio, the crowd had a local who by merit had all the signs of a future world champion.

LONG RUN FOR JACAREPAGUA’:

In 1981, the circuit had a carnival atmosphere and the expectations of the local crowd went high as their city boy Nelson had taken the pole position. The race track was wet at the start and Nelson Piquet started the race with dry slicks. It didn’t help him as he was easily overpowered by both the Williams drivers Reutmann and Alan Jones. Carlos Reutmann went on to win the race despite the clear instructions to finish behind the 1980 World Champion, his team mate Alan Jones which made Jones furious and later refused to come on the podium to take his 2^nd place. Nelson Piquet could not finish in points, but he did win the World Championship in his Brabham-Ford, the first of his three and Brazil had a new hero and this time it was not from Sao Paulo.

Nelson Piquet and the eventual world champion Keke Rosberg finished 1^st and 2^nd respectively in the 1982 edition. But both the places were disqualified due to the car being underweight promoting Alain Prost as the winner. This resulted in FOCA teams boycotting the SanMarino GP.

The local boy eventually tasted the victory champagne at his home circuit the following year while Keke Rosberg (the 1982 World Champion) was disqualified from his 2^nd position for the second year running. Nelson Piquet took his second World Championship and this time with Brabham-BMW.

While the nation was celebrating their new found hero in Piquet, another kid (so to speak) was finding his feet in F1. He was none other than Senna. Debuting for Toleman, the Brazilian didn’t have a good time, but did show early signs about being a champion material. Alain Prost, the French driver nicknamed ‘Professor’ took his second title at the Brazilian GP. He repeated this feat by driving his McLaren-TAG powered engine to the top step in 1985 too.

After having two unsuccessful seasons at Brabham (1984 and 1985), Nelson Piquet shifted to Williams powered by the reliable Honda engine. The 1986 race in Jacarepaguá was the first to be held after the disastrous car accident to Sir Frank Williams in France. Nelson Piquet went on to win the 1986 Grand Prix, but was unable to win the overall title, which went to Alain Prost for the second time.

Alain Prost by this time was simply unstoppable. His rivalry with Nelson Piquet was intense but never so controversial. Prost went on to win his 4^th Brazilian GP in 1987 but the McLaren driver was beaten to title by Nelson Piquet. Nelson won his 3^rd World Championship title and joined the ranks of Fangio, Brabham, Jackie Stewart and Niki Lauda as the only drivers to win three or more World Championship titles.

ANOTHER PASS IN THE BATON:

By the time the season started in 1988, a lot of changes had taken place; Piquet was no more with Williams and he had joined Lotus. Senna joined Prost at McLaren and thus began an epic rivalry for the next 2 years. In the meantime, there was a change made to the circuit as well. It was renamed as ‘Autódromo Internacional Nelson Piquet’, a tribute to the local hero and for being the only Brazilian triple World champion. In his first race since it was renamed after him, Piquet finished driving a Lotus-Honda, finishing behind the McLaren-Honda of Alain Prost (won his 5^th Brazilian GP title), and the Ferrari of Gerhard Berger. By the end of the season, Piquet’s career had taken a nose-dive and he had to be content with the fact that Senna was the new face of Brazilian motorsports as he won his first World Championship title.

The last race at Jacarepaguá paralled with the career of Nelson Piquet, the attention was now towards Sao Paulo and its new hero. In 1989, Senna took the pole and Mansell became the first man since Mario Andretti in 1971 to win on his Formula One debut for Ferrari, a feat that was not matched until Kimi Raikkonen won for Ferrari at the 2007 Australian Grand Prix.  Nelson Piquet who was slowly losing his aura finished in ninth.

The baton was not just in the drivers but it again coincided with change in location. With Senna’s growing popularity and more importantly Interlagos, newly shortened and safe circuit provided a tempting offer and finally the FIA awarded the Brazilian GP to Interlagos, Sao Paulo in 1990. FIA and F1 have not looked back and till date the Brazilian Grand Prix is hosted at Interlagos.

CURRENT STATE:

In total, it hosted 10 races in a period of 12 seasons. And there will not be any more additions to this tally as there won’t be any further F1 race hosted at Jacarepaguá. The track and motorsport facilities were finally demolished last November and will be re-built as training facilities venue for the Rio Summer Olympics in 2016.