Dutch GP 1976

Dutch GP, 1976

In the fortnight after the Austrian GP, Niki Lauda came off the critical list and returned home to Salzburg where he began to prepare for a comeback at Monza. Lauda's amazing recovery (and the fact that the Austrian was still 23 points ahead of James Hunt in the World Championship) convinced Enzo Ferrari to send a car to Holland for Clay Regazzoni to drive. McLaren had a new M26 but Hunt decided to stay with the M23 leaving Jochen Mass to develop the new car. Shadow also had a new DN8 for Tom Pryce. Brett Lunger had stepped down from the Surtees and Sweden's Conny Andersson had been drafted in for the weekend, while Jacky Ickx had been signed up by Ensign. Guy Edwards was out of action having aggravated an old wrist injury at the Nurburgring and his place was taken in the Hesketh team by Rolf Stommelen. Also in action was the Boro team which had Larry Perkins driving the much-modified old Ensign while local racer Boy Hayje was at the wheel of a Hexagon of Highgate Penske PC3. The RAM team ran into more legal trouble, this time from sponsor Tissot, and so Loris Kessel and Lella Lombardi did not get to run.

Qualifying resulted in pole position for Ronnie Peterson's March with Hunt second in his McLaren, Tom Pryce third in the new Shadow and John Watson (the winner in Austria) fourth in his Penske. Then came Regazzoni, Mario Andretti (Lotus), Vittorio Brambilla (March), Jody Scheckter (Tyrrell), Carlos Pace (Brabham-Alfa Romeo) and Jacques Laffite (Ligier). Ickx was 11th in the Ensign while Perkins ddi a good job to put the Boro 19th in a field of 26.

In the race Peterson took the lead at the start and Watson forced Hunt back to third. Andretti was fourth with Pryce behind him. Peterson discovered that his car was not handling well and Watson was able to close up on him. Watson tried to pass several times and on the second he went wide and Hunt was able to slip through into second place. On the following lap Peterson dropped behind Watson and on the 18th lap behind Regazzoni, who had battled his way ahead of Pryce and Andretti. The order then remained unchanged until lap 48 when Watson's race ended with a gearbox failure. Hunt was alone at the front and while Regazzoni was able to close up he could not overtake and Hunt won by a second. Peterson's third place disappeared on lap 53 when he lost oil pressure and so Andretti finished third with Pryce fourth, Scheckter fifth and Brambilla sixth after Ickx went out with an electric problem with just a handful of laps to go.

POSNODRIVERENTRANTLAPSTIME/RETIREMENTQUAL POS
11 James Hunt McLaren-Cosworth M23 75 1h44m52.090s  
Clay Regazzoni Ferrari 312T2 75 1h44m53.010s  
Mario Andretti Lotus-Cosworth 77 75 1h44m54.180s  
16 Tom Pryce Shadow-Cosworth DN8 75 1h44m59.030s  
Jody Scheckter Tyrrell-Cosworth P34 75 1h45m14.550s  
Vittorio Brambilla March-Cosworth 761 75 1h45m37.120s  
Patrick Depailler Tyrrell-Cosworth P34 75 1h45m48.370s  14 
19 Alan Jones Surtees-Cosworth TS19 74  16 
12 Jochen Mass McLaren-Cosworth M26 74  15 
10 17 Jean-Pierre Jarier Shadow-Cosworth DN5B 74  20 
11 38 Henri Pescarolo Surtees-Cosworth TS19 74  22 
12 25 Rolf Stommelen Hesketh-Cosworth 308D 72  25 
22 Jacky Ickx Ensign-Cosworth N176 66 Electrics 11 
39 Boy Hayje Penske-Cosworth PC3 63 Drive Shaft 21 
Carlos Pace Brabham-Alfa Romeo BT45 53 Mechanical 
26 Jacques Laffite Ligier-Matra JS5 53 Engine 10 
10 Ronnie Peterson March-Cosworth 761 52 Engine 
24 Harald Ertl Hesketh-Cosworth 308D 49 Spin 24 
28 John Watson Penske-Cosworth PC4 47 Gearbox 
37 Larry Perkins Boro-Cosworth N175 44 Accident 19 
30 Emerson Fittipaldi Copersucar-Cosworth FD04 40 Electrics 17 
Carlos Reutemann Brabham-Alfa Romeo BT45 11 Clutch 12 
Gunnar Nilsson Lotus-Cosworth 77 10 Accident 13 
18 Connie Andersson Surtees-Cosworth TS19 Engine 26 
34 Hans-Joachim Stuck March-Cosworth 761 Engine 18 
20 Arturo Merzario Wolf Williams-Cosworth FW05 Accident 23 
nq 40 Alessandro Pesenti-Rossi Tyrrell-Cosworth 007   27