Stop the press. BRM targets 1972 F1 World Championship with experienced Frenchman Jean-Pierre Beltoise heading a four car line-up for the team managed by Louis Stanley. Lotus and Ferrari remain the other title contenders with the Italian squad the second outfit to enter four cars including one for Chris Amon who left Matra after their unexpected filling for bankruptcy. Arturo Merzario was relegated into a testing driver position while the similar fate befell Jackie Oliver in the BRM team and his place was taken by ex-Lotus man Reine Wisell.
1972 F1 Season Entry List: (carskins provided by Julio Artucio aka zerkalo
)
John Player Special Team Lotus: # 1 Emerson Fittipaldi - #23 Dave Walker
Scuderia Ferrari: # 4 Clay Regazzoni - # 6 Jacky Ickx - #13 Chris Amon - #21 Mario Andretti
Marlboro BRM: #11 Jean-Pierre Beltoise - #12 Peter Gethin - #20 Reine Wisell - #25 Howden Ganley
Elf Team Tyrrell: # 2 Francois Cevert - # 7 Jackie Stewart
Yardley Team McLaren: # 3 Peter Revson - # 5 Denny Hulme
Ceramica Pagnossin Team Surtees: # 8 Andrea de Adamich - #17 Tim Schenken
STP March Racing Team: # 9 Ronnie Peterson - #22 Niki Lauda
Motor Racing Developments Brabham: #14 Graham Hill - #16 Carlos Reutemann
Team Williams Motul: #18 Henri Pescarolo - #24 Carlos Pace
1972 F1 Season Calendar:Round 1: Argentina (Buenos Aires)
Round 2: South Africa (Kyalami)
Round 3: Brazil (Interlagos)
Round 4: BRDC International Trophy (Silverstone)
Round 5: Spain (Jarama)
Round 6: Monaco (Monte Carlo)
Round 7: Belgium (Nivelles)
Round 8: France (Rouen-les-Essarts)
Round 9: Great Britain (Brands Hatch)
Round 10: Germany (Hockenheim)
Round 11: Austria (Osterreichring)
Round 12: Italy (Monza)
Round 13: Canada (Mosport)
Round 14: United States (Watkins Glen)
Round 1: Argentine Grand Prix - Buenos AiresQualifying:Weather was hot and sunny for the opening practice session of the season and Jean-Pierre Beltoise confirmed BRM's high expectations by taking pole position with a time of 1:46.391 Min. around the 5.968 km long Oscar Galvez circuit on the southern suburbs of Buenos Aires. Ferrari armada followed with Jacky Ickx lining up on the front row with a time of 1:46.507 Min. while Mario Andretti and Chris Amon shared row two. Among the other favourites, Emerson Fittipaldi was fifth, Jackie Stewart seventh and Clay Regazzoni unable to match his teammates' pace only ninth in the remaining Ferrari. BRM's second best driver Peter Gethin was 12th.
Race:Weather conditions changed dramatically overnight and the start of the race wintessed heavy rainfalls with the forecast predicting a dry period after 20 mins of racing before rain returning for the final phase of the 53 lap event. Jean-Pierre Beltoise took little gamble by starting on hard wet tires and maintained the lead with Andretti settling into second place through first corner. Denny Hulme made the most ground on the opening lap leaping up from eight on the grid to third. On the second lap wet conditions finally took their toll as Clay Regazzoni and Andrea de Adamich went off simultanously in Turn One but managed to rejoin without any damage. On the next lap race leader Beltoise slid wide at Viborita and Andretti duly sneaked ahead as the Frenchman shut the door on the upcoming Hulme. This had costed the 1967 world champion momentum and he was passed by both Ickx and Fittipaldi on Confiteria Straight few moments later. Action followed on lap five as Fittipaldi passed Ickx in Turn One only to lose the place back two laps later. This battle enabled Andretti and Beltoise to pull away up front but behind them Hulme was losing even more ground as the race progressed. Elsewhere Jackie Stewart finally moved into contention by passing Peter Revson for sixth on lap 10 while Chris Amon lost several places on the opening lap and dropped from fourth on the grid to 10th.
After eight laps the rain stopped and within the next five laps a dry line appeared which prompted everyone to come for new tires. Jean-Pierre Beltoise stayed out for a couple of laps longer then Andretti but his gamble failed to pay off as he rejoined down in fourth behind Andretti, Fittipaldi and Ickx. However outside the racing line there was still a damp patch which caught out Andretti in the penultimate Horovilla corner on lap 16 and allowed Fittipaldi to take the lead. Ickx was running in close attention as the leading trio pulled a ten second gap over Beltoise who had his mirrors full of Stewart, Hulme and Revson instead.
This battle eventually went in favour of Stewart who passed Beltoise into Ascari chicane on lap 19 and began to pull away. In the meantime Tim Schenken crashed out at Viborita on lap 17 and BRMs of Howden Ganley and Peter Gethin retired with mechanical problems shortly afterwards. Clay Regazzoni worked his way up to 13th place after his earlier spin off but outbraked himself in Senna S and crashed into the barriers on lap 28. More attrition followed as the mid-part of the race was plagued with retirements. Andrea de Adamich suffered a gearbox failure while in the most dramatic event Denny Hulme's left front tyre exploded on the main straight and forced the sixth placed McLaren out of the race on lap 31. This left Jean-Pierre Beltoise is safe fifth with Peter Revson and Francois Cevert now battling for the final point.
Weather vastly improved during the middle stages of the race but with 20 laps remaining it started to rain again as predicted. Leader Fittipaldi opened a seven secs. lead over Andretti with Ickx further five behind at this stage but all drivers were forced to pit for wet tires again. Fittipaldi maintained his lead but Andretti stayed out a lap longer before his service and was able to close within two secs. of the Brazilian. In the wet conditions the American was quicker and harrassed the Lotus man right until lap 50 when he passed him on Recta do Lago straight. This seemed to be a race deciding moment but on the very next lap Andretti was held up by the lapped car of Carlos Reutemann which allowed Fittipaldi to regain the lead in exactly the same spot. Andretti tried to mount another challenge but run over the kerb at Ascari losing momentum and conceding the victory to the Brazilian. The gap at the finish was just over a second though.
Behind the two leaders Jacky Ickx completed the podium with Jackie Stewart fourth. Jean-Pierre Beltoise closed within two seconds of the Tyrrell man in the wet conditions but was then held up by Graham Hill and lost seven seconds to Stewart in the proccess which settled their placings. Francois Cevert rounded out the top half-dozen after a quicker pitstop enabled him to break clear from Peter Revson.
Jean-Pierre Beltoise (BRM) opens the season with 5th place, denied a shot at 4th thanks to lapped traffic.I recorded the third fastest lap of the race (1:50.227 on lap 33 the last one before the rain returned with Fittipaldi and Andretti the only ones into 49s). For comparision, Carlos Pace's fastest lap - slowest of all - was 1:54.8 Min.
Next up: South African Grand Prix @ Kyalami...