Friday, March 21, 2014 - North Shore News - A43
TODAY’S DRIVE
Villeneuve refuses to back down From page 42 the pace. Dropping into a rhythm, he began to climb up the ranks. There was no giving way to legends like Lauda or Nelson Piquet — Arnoux simply spooled up the boost on his powerful Renault and blasted them into the weeds. Soon, he was just behind Jabouille, and the twin Renaults began hunting down the Ferrari. Halfway through the 80-lap race,Villeneuve must have sensed he wasn’t going to win. His tires were cooked, worn through from maintaining high levels of cornering speeds to counter the straight-line punch of the Renaults. Jabouille continued to gain despite all his efforts, and on the 46th lap, the Frenchman made his move. As soon as his Renault passed, Jabouille immediately abandoned his chess-game approach and drove his car as hard as possible.There was simply no way the Ferrari could keep up, and the gap between first and second immediately stretched to multiple seconds. Arnoux soon crowded up behind Villeneuve, trying for the same performance. The crowd was already on their feet, cheering Jabouille and the surety of his win. Would they see a one-two podium finish on French soil? It had been 30 years since a French driver had taken victory here, and hearts were in mouths. On the 78th lap Arnoux cut to the inside corner after the long straight and went for it. It was a killing stroke, a coup de grâce, and it should have meant a hard-fought third place finish for Villeneuve. But Gilles heard something. Over the howling roar of the Ferrari’s flat-12, he could hear Arnoux’s V-6 misfiring at the top end of the rev range. It still had the low-end torque to make the passing moves, and Arnoux’s tires were in far better shape than those of Villeneuve’s Ferrari, but suddenly the French’s power advantage had vanished. The cars were lapping the track in a little more than two minutes, and in the final two laps, the greatest battle ever seen
in Formula One racing got underway. First, even as Arnoux cut to the inside,Villeneuve
refused to give way. He clung to the outside, just a nose behind, but Arnoux’s shorter line meant that the
Frenchman couldn’t be stopped. He moved into second place and the crowd roared.
But Villeneuve was right there, staying on Arnoux, not letting him surge ahead as Jabouille had. The pair scorched through the rest of the lap, and crossed the line in a row. Diving into the corner, right where Arnoux
had made his passing move, Villeneuve suddenly darted to the inside, locking up his brakes and wreathing his car in a cloud of smoke. His Ferrari responded, despite See Racer page 44
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