Lotus World magazine: The Story of Ayrton's first GP victory
LOTUS WORLD - JUNE 1985 Vol.4, Issue3 - Free to Members Portuguese Report Round 2 – April 21st PARABENS AYRTON! (Portuguese for congratulations!)
Ayrton’s masterly drive in leading the Portuguese Grand Prix from pole position to the winner’s podium in atrocious weather conditions, was a virtuoso performance that already ranks as a classic. In teeming rain that produced rivers of water running across the track and fountains of blinding spray around every car, it seemed as if our Brazilian ace had found the only piece of dry track around. Reports from spectators and journalists who had been out on the circuit certainly indicated an almost magical performance, “It was just amazing”, said one. “The other drivers were grabbing vast handfuls of lock just to stay on the road, yet Ayrton was calmly setting the car up and driving smoothly through the corners on his chosen line, with no drama at all.”
Programmed preparations for the race went according to plan and gave us a good start over the other teams. Our cars and spares that had come into Lisbon airport from Rio were hurried through Customs and transported to the circuit by our agent on the Monday of arrival, enabling our crew to start work first thing on Tuesday of race week, a full day ahead of everyone else. ‘Duck’ Martin who had returned to the factory from Rio so as to take our transporter out did not leave our base until the very last moment so the majority of parts that were required could be put on board. Tyreman Clive Hicks meanwhile took the Renault van to collect engines on the way down and incidentally was advised to take a longer route crossing Spain avoiding the Basque Separatist area due to the French display on the vehicle. It would be a round trip fractionally short of 4,000 miles, and with 28 fuel stops!
By Thursday we were in great shape. All three cars were finished; spare engines, gearboxes and rear suspensions were built up as complete units as was the spare-spare engine/transmission unit. Like previous occasions when we have been well organised and finished preparations early, came the nagging worry that the next day would see our plans turn to rubbish–which in fact is exactly what happened!
Rio’s Mystery Solved
It was Ayrton’s turn to have the spare car (Chassis/T1) in Portugal. With a ‘race’ engine installed (both “race” cars had qualifying engines fitted) it was necessary for him to establish fuel consumption data in first practice and also to get some endurance running to try the small increase in boost Renault’s engineers had indicated could be tried so as to make us more competitive.
However, his running soon came to an end. After just four laps (in which he had quickly recorded a good time) he returned to the pits, his clutch gone. In a film session for our sponsors that had taken place the morning after the Rio race he had practiced race starts and the heavily hammered clutch had decided to wait until Portugal before finally quitting.
Now that the car needed a lengthy period of work by our mechanics, Ayrton was forced to jump into his ‘race’ car (chassis number 97T/2). Within no time at all he was back in the pits again with a repeat of his Rio race retirement; his engine had died out on the circuit and he had free-wheeled home. All of which was extremely aggravating as our crew had done just about everything they could between races to ensure there would be no repeat. They had changed the loom, the engine loom, changed the dash, the electronics box and the ignition box and they now found they were back to square “A”. Finally, the trouble was found and it was a fault that would have gone unnoticed in the cool conditions of an evening investigation.
The offending part was the electric fuel pump that is deep in the car’s fuel system. It had got blocked by a piece of the adhesive used in retaining the filter, had subsequently over-heated and then short circuited the system. As readers of our Rio report will remember once everything had cooled down the engine had started perfectly well and it was only the heat of running that had caused the problem to strike again.
Ayrton was now without a car with only eleven laps to his credit (even so he had recorded fourth fastest time!) when other drivers had completed around thirty. Also, the stoppages had prevented him for trying his qualifying tyres which of course was a major set-back to our programme. Now our crew not only had to change turbos, waste gates and gear ratios on all three cars in the ninety minute gap leading up to qualifying but they also had to drain fuel tanks and replace the fuel pumps in all three cars as a safety measure.
Meanwhile Elio’s running had been faultless and he had taken pole spot in the first session two tenths of a second in front of Prost.
Friday Untimed
1st ELIO 1.23.258
2nd Prost 1.23.420
3rd Rosberg 1.24.182
4th AYRTON 1.25.229
5th Piquet 1.25.486
6th Lauda 1.25.571
FRIDAY QUALIFYING
The crew’s efforts to complete the cars was coming to an end just as qualifying started, so Ayrton was late going out. Then with five minutes gone the rain started! Elio with his programme of work completed and his car ready to go, had already zipped out and put up fastest time and returned to the garage. But now it was raining his time could not be regarded as infallible as conditions could so easily change once again. One bonus was that he still had another run left on the qualifying tyres he had just used.
Fifteen minutes into the session Ayrton was ready to go out. The track was now quite wet and seeing the conditions around the circuit on the TV Peter Warr rushed over to him as he prepared to leave. “It’s very slippery out there”, he warned, “all we want is a 1.40 to get you qualified; there’s no need to throw the car away!”
Out went Ayrton. His first lap time quickly came up, 1.34! Excellent. His next lap was faster than anyone – 1.26! Remember it was now wet and he was on slicks. It was a mind-boggling performance and the effects of it vibrated down the pit lane.
When he returned to the pits he admitted he had been totally out shape in one place and nearly on the grass; it must have been a hair-raising moment but with both cars home in one piece it was an incident best forgotten.
Now came the wait to see what the weather would do. At around thirty-five minutes into the session Ayrton said “I think now’s the time.”
Out he went. Result? Pole position.
Now it was Elio’s turn. With his previously used set of qualifiers still on the car he asked for these to be changed left to right so as to get the best use out of them. Result? Second fastest time!
Back in the pits sat Elio’s second set of qualifiers and it was obvious he planned to use these in taking pole position. His prospects looked good-the car was going well, it was nicely balanced and he was obviously fired up.
Then the rain returned and his chance had gone. Elio was a disappointed man, but for the Team the plaudits of the day were theirs. First and second on the grid, with pole man Ayrton a fraction under 2 secs quicker than the opposition.
Friday Qualifying
1st AYRTON 1.21.708
2nd ELIO 1.22.306
3rd Lauda 1.23.670
4th Alboreto 1.23.831
5th Prost 1.23.887
6th Patrese 1.24.519
There were no engine changes that night. The spare car had done only minimal mileage and the other two were performing perfectly. Ayrton’s car needed its fuel pump checked and there was a trace of oversteer to put right on both cars.
SATURDAY
The usual full tank running was on the agenda. Both drivers had an extra set of qualifiers left over from the previous day (Ayrton from his lack of running in the morning and Elio because of the rain that had returned) so these could be tried at morning’s end. The circuit characteristics at Estoril are such that it always starts in a dirty condition and then gets appreciably cleaner and cleaner as the day goes by.
The cars went out brim full. Soon Elio was back, delighted with the improvement in the car. “It’s better than on empty tanks”, he beamed.
Both cars just went faster and faster as the unofficial session continued. Various tyre combinations were tried (there isn’t a huge selection this year). We were quite clearly first and second fastest on full tanks and repeated the honours again when our drivers used the left-over quallies.
The period between sessions produces increased pressure on everyone so as to get all the work done in good time to ensure both cars were ready to go immediately running re-started for that all important session.
Saturday Unofficial
1st AYRTON 1.21.656
2nd ELIO 1.22.022
3rd Prost 1.22.602
4th Cheever 1.23.134
5th Patrese 1.24.060
6th de Cesaris 1.24.390
FINAL QUALIFYING
Ayrton in his usual fashion ensured he was first out when the track opened and promptly posted fastest test lap. Elio followed and improved on his previous day’s time quite substantially even though he was baulked towards the end of his run. With first and second fastest times tucked away came the inevitable ‘wait and watch’ period as the other drivers did their utmost to dislodge us.
With twenty minutes to go Ayrton went out again and promptly took 0.7 off his previous time, a performance that set the pit lane tongues wagging again. Elio waited, judging when best to go out. It is always to tell quickly and accurately which of those out on the track are about to do a blinder and those who are on their final laps. Both Prost and Rosberg had bumped him in the meanwhile but both had used all their ‘quallies’ as had Ferrari and when he eventually went out it proved we had picked just about the best time. He was obviously very, very quick-someone was recording times through the section after the pits and he was obviously far faster than anybody. Then going up the hill on the back leg of the circuit he reported later the engine didn’t feel quite right – as he came into sight of our crew and with a very quick time coming up that would have improved on his previous best the engine let-go some one hundred yards from the line.
It was a real big one-a ‘firejob’ that was accompanied by numerous bits of metal bounding down the road in all directions. It transpired it was a turbo that had failed in quite spectacular fashion; the inside has disintegrated and blown the pieces through its casting culminating in bits exploding out of the exhaust which left it looking as if a hand grenade had gone off inside it. A bitterly disappointed Elio found he would stay in fourth place on the race grid after all.
RACE GRID
1st AYRTON 1.21.007
2nd Prost 1.21.420
3rd Rosberg 1.21.904
4th ELIO 1.22.159
5th Alboreto 1.22.577
6th Warwick 1.23.084
RACE DAY
Warm-up saw Elio going fantastically quickly. Part of the half-hour was spent trying softer tyres to see if we could use them in the race and thereby gain a further advantage.
Aryton went straight into a gear-box problem. He had difficulty finding the gears and was forced to stop out on the circuit with no chance to sample his race engine or full tank running. As it turned out it was an event that worked to our advantage for when the car was brought back to the garage it was found the engine had also expired! In suffering an internal haemorrhage the engine had pressurised itself and pumped oil through every outlet it could find; the result on this occasion was only too obvious.
Now we were in the situation of having our pole position car without an engine or gearbox! On top of this the ratios in the replacement gearbox were qualifiers and so they also had to be changed; additionally the brakes had to be changed as did the brake ducts. Again, it was a mammoth task; just how mammoth can be judged by the fact Bruno our Renault engineer started the engine just five minutes before the pit road opening to countdown for the race.
From then our luck changed for the better. Ayrton flashed onto the circuit, got a warm-up lap under his belt, the rain started and the red flag went out! It was the only car to complete a warm-up lap. The fifteen-minute delay that followed was ideal and enable us to check the systems and possible oil leaks. The situation was definitely brightening.
THE RACE
When the green light flashed on both drivers made impeccable starts, Elio nipping through into second place behind his team-mate. From then on Ayrton’s performance was unbelievable. Reports from people with a close-up view at various parts of the circuit said he was the only driver whose hands didn’t move on the steering wheel while everyone else took great handfuls of lock going all over the place. It was a delightful fact that he was finding grip where others could find no traction at all. On lap 5 he was 6.5 seconds ahead; lap 10 and it was 12.8. By lap 13 he was 15.3 seconds in the lead, ahead of Elio who was putting up an equally fine drive in second place. Not only was our Italian embroiled in a determined battle to keep Prost at bay, but from lap 10 he also had a slow puncture in a front tyre to contend with. His determination to keep going so as not to lose his advantage with a time-wasting pit stop can only be marvelled at. No way could Prost get past and finally after nearly thirty laps of cut and thrust the Frenchman made an error and was into the guardrail and out of the race.
It was not until lap 43 Elio had to give way to Alboreto and then with the offending tyre even further deflated he went off the circuit just two corners later but skilfully kept everything under control and regained the road with only minimal delay.
At this stage Ayrton was holding a lead of 63 seconds. It was a scintillating performance, enlivened on one lap when he made signals to the start/finish line officials that he made it quite plain he felt the race should be stopped. No doubt his memory of last year’s Monaco race had come to mind, but his request was to be ignored. It was not the only one by any means. Ferrari’s representative made a similar plea; Gerard Ducarouge followed suit, as did Niki Lauda when his car finally quit.
Unfortunately, it was Ayrton’s mastery of the conditions that worked against him. To prove the validity of their decision the race should continue the officials merely pointed to Ayrton’s never slowing lap times! “What could be more positive than that?” they implied, disregarding the fact the race was now virtually a demolition derby as car after car skidded and waltzed off the circuit.
From lap 43 the gap between first and second places remained constant for eight laps and then began to open up again. With 10 laps to go, Ayrton held a commanding 72 seconds advantage, with 3 laps to go it was 76.
From now on it was a nerve tingling sensation for our crew as they all craned their necks to watch for the yellow helmet to appear through the mist and spray signifying another lap had been safely completed. It is a period when everyone listens intently to every voice, every sound in case disaster has struck as long interminably long minutes tick slowly away. Surprisingly Steve Hallam (Ayrton’s race car engineer) only succumbed to the emotion surrounding him when Ayrton started his last lap, as his rain sodden race sheet, ending on lap 66, later testified.
Then it was all over! Ayrton was home (but not dry) and the tension was broken. We had won! As he crossed the finishing line Ayrton’s arms went high above his head as realised the sheer ecstasy of the moment. Slowing to cross the line Ayrton’s winning margin was still just over a minute, a remarkable 62 seconds. The Team Lotus pit crew went mad with half a dozen of them leaping onto the track as Ayrton passed. Ayrton undid his belts and pulled himself half out of his seat, at times waving wildly with both arms highlighted by his distinctive red driving gloves.
Behind him, Elio finally had lost third place to Tambay. He had successfully kept his car in contention for the majority of the race; hampered by a steadily deflating tyre he had done all that could be asked of him, and fourth place was a huge disappointment to him. He deserved far better.
By the time Ayrton made it to Parc Ferme the Team Lotus crew had beaten him to it and afforded him an ecstatic welcome. Two and a half years after Colin Chapman had died Team Lotus had managed to return to the top of the podium. A fantastic achievement by the team that had stuck together to face the challenge of life without their leader.
1st AYRTON
2nd Alboreto
3rd Tambay
4th ELIO
5th Mansell
6th Bellof
Fastest Lap: Ayrton 1.44.121
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