1979 Dutch Grand Prix

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The 1979 Dutch Grand Prix was a Formula One race held on 26 August 1979 at Zandvoort.

Arnoux put the Renault on pole but the slow start of the turbo allowed Jones to break free and the cars of Arnoux, Regazzoni, Jabouille, and Villeneuve to fight for second. Arnoux and Regazzoni collided eliminating the Williams on the spot. Arnoux only lasted to the end of the lap as he limped back to the pits. Scheckter fell to last place on the first lap and began the task of working through the field. Villeneuve, who made it through the first lap ahead of Jabouille, passed Jones at Tarzan on lap 11. He gave the lead back to Jones when he spun on lap 47. On lap 51, just after passing the pits, Villeneuve's left rear tyre exploded causing him to spin. He regained control to begin one of the wildest laps in history. He drove an entire lap on two tyres, the right front was in the air and the left rear was shredding rubber and sparking with the pavement. Reaction was mixed. It was either an act of the ultimate competitor not wanting to give up or an irresponsible, emotional decision. Either way he was out as his suspension was too damaged to rejoin the race. Jones finished first giving him his third consecutive and Williams their fourth consecutive victory. However, Scheckter worked his way up to finish second and due to Jones' poor performance in the first half of the season, the Ferrari driver only needed 4 more points to ensure a Ferrari would win the driver's title.

[edit] Classification

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	27	Alan Jones	Williams-Ford	75	1:41:19.775	2	9
2	11	Jody Scheckter	Ferrari	75	+21.783 secs	5	6
3	26	Jacques Laffite	Ligier-Ford	75	+1:03.253	7	4
4	6	Nelson Piquet	Brabham-Alfa Romeo	74	+1 Lap	11	3
5	25	Jacky Ickx	Ligier-Ford	74	+1 Lap	20	2
6	30	Jochen Mass	Arrows-Ford	73	+2 Laps	18	1
7	31	Hector Rebaque	Lotus-Ford	73	+2 Laps	24
Ret	3	Didier Pironi	Tyrrell-Ford	51	Suspension	10
Ret	12	Gilles Villeneuve	Ferrari	49	Tyre	6
Ret	18	Elio de Angelis	Shadow-Ford	40	Transmission	22
Ret	20	Keke Rosberg	Wolf-Ford	33	Engine	8
Ret	15	Jean-Pierre Jabouille	Renault	26	Clutch	4
Ret	7	John Watson	McLaren-Ford	22	Engine	12
Ret	4	Jean-Pierre Jarier	Tyrrell-Ford	20	Spun Off	16
Ret	9	Hans-Joachim Stuck	ATS-Ford	19	Transmission	15
Ret	17	Jan Lammers	Shadow-Ford	12	Gearbox	23
Ret	1	Mario Andretti	Lotus-Ford	9	Suspension	17
Ret	29	Riccardo Patrese	Arrows-Ford	7	Brakes	19
Ret	8	Patrick Tambay	McLaren-Ford	6	Engine	14
WD	5	Niki Lauda	Brabham-Alfa Romeo	4	Withdrew	9
Ret	14	Emerson Fittipaldi	Fittipaldi-Ford	2	Electrical	21
Ret	2	Carlos Reutemann	Lotus-Ford	1	Suspension	13
Ret	16	René Arnoux	Renault	1	Suspension	1
Ret	28	Clay Regazzoni	Williams-Ford	0	Accident	3
DNQ	22	Patrick Gaillard	Ensign-Ford
DNQ	24	Arturo Merzario	Merzario-Ford

[edit] Notes

• Pole position: René Arnoux - 1:15.461
• Fastest Lap: Gilles Villeneuve - 1:19.438
• Lap Leaders: Alan Jones 39 laps (1-10, 47-75); Gilles Villeneuve 36 laps (11-46).

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