Dutch GP 1982
JULY 3, 1982
Dutch GP, 1982
After Nelson Piquet's win for Brabham-BMW in Canada there was a three-week break before the Dutch GP. Didier Pironi walked out of a second huge testing accident at Paul Ricard, the car somersaulting but staying on the track (unlike an earlier accident where he ended up in a spectator area). Team Lotus announced that its young test driver Roberto Moreno would replace the injured Nigel Mansell. Ferrari finally returned to two cars with Patrick Tambay joining Pironi while Osella (which had lost Riccardo Paletti an accident in Montreal) decided to field only one car. There was a change at Theodore as well as Jan Lammers was now back in action after missing the Canadian race with a broken thumb. Toleman was back in action as well with a much-modified car.
The two Renaults shared the front row as usual with Rene Arnoux ahead of Alain Prost while Piquet was third and Pironi fourth. The first non-turbo was Niki Lauda's McLaren in fifth which shared the third row with Tambay's Ferrari. the top 10 was completed by Keke Rosberg (Williams), Bruno Giacomelli and Andrea de Cesaris in their Alfa Romeos and Riccardo Patrese's Brabham. Derek Warwick was 13th in the Toleman although Teo Fabi once again failed to qualify. Also failing to qualify was Eddie Cheever in the Talbot Ligier JS19, the team having decided to concentrate on the new car rather than using the older JS17s. Also out was Moreno who was obviously not ready for F1.
At the start Prost took the lead with Arnoux, Pironi, Tambay, Lauda and Piquet chasing. Pironi quickly overtook Arnoux and Piquet blasted past both Lauda and Tambay.
At the start of the fifth lap Pironi took the lead and began to pull away. Further back Piquet overtook Arnoux and behind them Rosberg was able to overtake Lauda and then Tambay but then things began to settle down until lap 22 when Arnoux went out in spectacular fashion, going straight on at Tarzan when a wheel fell off. The car went straight into the barriers. The monocoque broke but absorbed the impact and Arnoux emerged unscathed. In the laps that followed Piquet closed on Prost and took second on lap 30. Three laps later Prost retired with engine failure. Rosberg was third with Lauda fourth and Derek Daly (Williams) fifth and that is how they stayed until the finish. The final point went to Mauro Baldi's Arrows after Tambay and Michele Alboreto (Tyrrell) faded.
And, amazingly, Derek Warwick's Toleman set the fastest lap.