Niki Lauda - Nurburgring 1976
1976 German Grand Prix officially Grosser Preis von XXXVIII Deutschland was racing Formula 1 held at the Nürburgring in August 1976 it was the scene of near fatal accident reigning world champion Niki Lauda, Formula and the last race one that will be held on the Nordschleife section of the race track 14 laps was the tenth round of the Formula one season 1976 and was won by James Hunt.
The old Nürburgring was seen as the circuit built more difficult for this and demanding in the world measuring 2 miles 22 14 8 km, it was by far the longest circuit on the calendar and because it was built in the Eifel mountains; there were over 1,000 feet 300 m elevation change Although it was slightly renovated in 1971, it still retains much of the character that led three times world champion Jackie Stewart dubbed the extraordinary size of the 'green hell GP meant he had at least five times the number of marshals and medical support as almost every other grand Prix to maintain properly, something the German organizers were unable to provide more, by its very nature, it was impossible to update the higher safety standards of the 1970s it was cramped, had very little runoff areas, and many sections were almost inaccessible to fire marshals he was also very bumpy indeed a number of points, including the Flugplatz and Pflanzgarten, cars could actually airborne size of the circuit sign ifiait as the weather and the track around it could vary widely with dry sections and other wet, making a safe choice difficult or impossible tires to two weeks ago, a fatal accident took place Flugplatz during practice for a race of Formula Super Vee-which, according to Autosport was the 131st fatality at the Nürburgring on its 49 years of history 3 He was also unfit for television; its size has made it all but impossible to adequately cover a race there for these reasons, it was decided before the race in 1976, after nearly half a century, this would be the last Grand Prix Germany held on the old Nürburgring and the last on the Nordschleife section.
Defending world champion Niki Lauda, who was also the points leader of the current season, was not impressed with the security conditions on the German circuit Leviathan, especially since the forecast called for rain, he tried to organize a boycott of the race, but the other drivers voted against by a single vote, and the race ahead.
The race weekend started with a few changes to the range of drivers Jacky Ickx was sacked from the Walter Wolf Racing team and was replaced by Arturo Merzario and a new team was present, Scuderia Rondini who bought an old Tyrrell 007 for Alessandro Pesenti-Rossi RAM was going to run Rolf Stommelen in one of his former factory Brabham BT44s but in the middle of the workout, the local police impounded cars because of a lawsuit by former driver Loris Kessel, and therefore transferred to the work Stommelen Brabham team to drive a spare part Alfa Romeo -Powered BT45.
In 1975, Lauda was the first and only driver to cross the bar seven minutes fans were looking forward to it or others might repeat after the technical rules had been changed, with the disappearance of high air boxes being most visible difference.
Because of wet conditions on Saturday the grid was already determined Friday qualifying, with 7 06-over lap times similar to those of 1972 4 James Hunt took the pole with Niki Lauda second while Patrick Depailler lined up third in les six wheeled Tyrrell P34 Hans-Joachim Stuck was fourth in its preliminary March Clay Regazzoni Jacques Laffite Carlos Pace Jody Scheckter Jochen Mass and Carlos Reutemann.
Time to get wet before the race, so most drivers started the race on rain tires, but Jochen Mass, who, having much experience at the Nürburgring and expected a change for a better time, decided to use tires dry Initially Regazzoni took the lead while both Hunt and Lauda fell Hunt was second, third was a rapid mass start fourth was Laffite who took advantage of the fact that the car Stuck had been pushed out of the grid with a clutch problem, although the German started at the back of the field in the first lap Regazzoni spun and dropped to fourth place at the end of the round, the weather changed again to dry and most drivers pitted for dry tires, leaving Mass with second place behind Peterson, who decided to go on wet tires for another round at the end of the second round, the Mass was in front, with G unnar Nilsson, who has not stopped at the second and third Hunt.
Niki Lauda had also changed tires after the first lap and was trying hard to catch up just after the fasting kink left before the curve of the right hand Bergwerk, his Ferrari 312T2 broken right and spun into the fence a land bank the car bounced down the runway, engulfed in flames Guy Edwards managed to avoid the Ferrari but Harald Ertl and Brett Lunger both he hit all three drivers stopped and tried to Lauda obtain flames and they were joined by Merzario, who stopped his loup Williams after seeing the wreck Lauda had suffered serious burns and was transported by helicopter to hospital in Koblenz Bundeswehr; from there, it was transported to the trauma clinic in Ludwigshafen home to the most advanced engraving service in Germany at the time, where he fought for his life for the next days.
Most cars had gathered at the accident site, could not pass on the right path close the race was stopped after the crash and restart, only 20 cars remained four cars under the first start, but Chris Amon decided not to start the race again the rain had gone and Hunt passed Regazzoni, Scheckter, Depailler and Pace to take the lead for good Flugplatz Peterson lost control of his March and crashed heavily while Regazzoni had another turn and Depailler went, avoiding the Ferrari Pace overtook Scheckter and finished the first lap in second place on the second lap, Scheckter passed Pace and the Brazilian fell behind Regazzoni in the third round, in which the sixth Vittorio Brambilla crashed at Adenau bridge because of a brake failure at his Mass in March and took Gunnar Nilsson has exceeded the fifth t and our Pace on lap 10 in the 12th turn, Regazzoni spun again and the mass moved to the third with Pace fourth, fifth Nilsson, and sixth Stommelen.
The accident Lauda proved why the old Nürburgring was too dangerous and too much to handle satisfactorily for Formula The Nordschleife was far too long for regular fire engines and ambulances, although the ONS - Staffel was equipped with a Porsche 911 rescue car had it not for the efforts of his fellow drivers, Lauda probably died before rescue teams arrived after the Nürburgring was rebuilt and shortened return to the new Formula 2 Nurburgring 8-mile for the grand Prix of Europe in 1984, the German grand Prix in 1985.
Chris Amon decided to end his career immediately after the accident Lauda, but returned to the Canadian Grand Prix in 1976 driving a Williams-Ford Racing Walter Wolf.
Note Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings only the seven best results of the first eight races and the seven best results of the last eight races to the championship brackets counted numbers are no championship points; The numbers in parentheses are total points points obtained does not reflect the final 1976 British Grand Prix he was on appeal.
Lang, Mike 1983 Grand Prix Vol 3 Haynes Publishing Group ISBN 0-85429-380-9 135 pp.
Ernst Raetz Motorsport Memorial Retrieved 23 December 2015.
Effenberger, Günther; Handke, Peter in 1978 Niki Lauda, ein Leben für die Formel 1 Munich Heyne Nr 5427 ISBN 978-3-453-00826-7.
1976 German Grand Prix original Archive December 10th, 2014 Retrieved 23 December 2015.
1976 German Grand Prix, 1976 German grand.