06/11/2012
FEATURE BY JIM CASEY
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With Formula One set to make its return to the U.S.A. for the first time in 5 years, it's time to review Formula One's varied history in my country.
The first race in the U. S. was in 1959, at Sebring, and was supposed to be held early in the season, the day after the 12 Hour Endurance Race, with a huge crowd already on hand. Agreements could not be reached in time, and the race was not held until December, with the championship still in doubt.
Bruce McLaren got his first win in a Cooper, which made him the youngest winner of a Grand Prix race at the time, but the real drama came with Jack Brabham having to push his car across the line to claim his first World Championship. The race was not well-promoted or well-attended, so in 1960 the event was moved west to Riverside Raceway, which had been built just a few years earlier.
Stirling Moss drove brilliantly and won in a privateer Lotus, but again the event was not well-promoted and attendance once again was poor, so Formula One's future in the US looked shaky at best.
Attempts to stage a race at Daytona Speedway failed, but a race was scheduled for the fall of 1961 at Watkins Glen, the lovely track in the Finger Lakes region of New York State.
Despite Ferrari's refusal to send their cars over, having already won the Drivers' and Constructors' Championships, and thus denying US fans the opportunity to see freshly-crowned US World Champion Phil Hill, and his American teammate Richie Ginther, race, a large and enthusiastic crowd attended, and the drivers and teams expressed positive feelings about both the track and the local organization.
The U. S. Grand Prix would remain at Watkins Glen until 1980, and was always popular with fans and drivers alike, and was chosen best-organized race of the year three times. It often helped determine the World Champion, coming as it did late in the season. Championships were clinched there by Brabham in 1966, Lotus in 1970 and 1973, and Niki Lauda and Ferrari in 1977.
In 1971 the track was lengthened to its current 3.37 mile layout, making it a truly world class circuit, fast and challenging. Fans who camped there were famous for their rowdiness, developing a tradition of burning a car in "The Bog" annually. The Glen had its share of tragedies as well, most notably the death of Francois Cevert in 1973.
I attended the last race there in 1980, and had a wonderful time. The weather was crisp and pleasant in the early fall, with the race date being October 5. During Fridays afternoon practice, I stationed myself at the top of the Esses, with an excellent view not only of the cars as they came up the hill, but also of Seneca Lake off in the distance.
During the session I witnessed one of the most remarkable feats of driving and car control I've ever seen. Didier Pironi spun his Ligier coming up the hill, and the car went around a full 360 degrees, then started its second spin. Pironi cocked his head to look over his shoulder, and as the car was about to finish its second spin, he dumped the clutch, grabbed a gear, and off he went as if it were nothing unusual.
The opportunity to chat with many of the drivers was memorable, especially Mario Andretti. Bruno Giacomelli dominated qualifying, putting his Alfa-Romeo on pole, and leading the race until a mechanical failure put him out, allowing Alan Jones, already crowned World Champion, to take the win. As it was the last race of the year, the teams held auctions in the paddock after the race, selling spare parts no longer needed, and which they did not wish to pay to ship back to England. I still have a third gear from a Hewland transaxle that I bought from the Williams team.
In 1976 a second race in the U.S. was added, on the streets of Long Beach,
California. Being in the midst of greater Los Angeles, and being a very challenging and interesting circuit, this race proved popular as well, and remained on the Formula One calendar until 1983, when the rising costs of bringing the Grand Prix Circus caused the organizers to switch to CART.
In 1977 I was fortunate to attend the Long Beach race, voted race of year for that season. For the entire race Jody Scheckter in his Wolf, Mario Andretti in the Lotus 78, and Niki Lauda in the Ferrari 312 T2 battled nose to tail, lap after lap, until, with just a few laps to go, Scheckter developed a slow leak in one of his tyres, allowing Mario to slip past for the win, and Niki to take second.
As is often the case with street circuits, there were numerous crashes into the first corner at Long Beach, despite moving the start from Ocean Blvd. to Shoreline Dr. after the first two races.
In 1981 and 1982 there was a race in the parking lot of Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas, an unfortunate choice at best. The layout was flat, featureless, and boring, and determined Nelson Piquet's championship in 1981.
Other short-term events were held on the streets of Dallas, Detroit, and Phoenix, with Detroit lasting the longest, from 1982 to 1988, and getting off to a fabulous start, with John Watson having the drive of his life, coming from 17th on the grid to win, something virtually unheard of on a tight street circuit.
The race held in Dallas in 1984, on a circuit laid out through the state fairgrounds, was notable only for the spectacularly hot conditions, deteriorating pavement, and Nigel Mansell's futile attempt to push his car home at the end.
Phoenix hosted a race for three years, from 1989 to 1991, and was dominated by McLaren each year, but failed to generate consistent crowds or sponsors.
Formula One was absent from the U.S. from 1991 to 2000, when an infield road course was added at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, which became the home of the U. S. Grand Prix until 2007. The race had its ups and downs, including the staged finish between Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello in their Ferraris in 2002, and the debacle in 2005, when all but 6 cars retired into their garages at the end of the formation lap, leaving only the cars using Bridgestone tyres to contest the event.
Despite this mess, the race returned for two more years, but following the 2007 event Tony George, representing the Speedway, and Bernie Ecclestone, could not agree on the fees to bring the cars to Indianapolis, leaving the 2007 event the final Formula One race on U.S. soil.
Despite the scepticism of many, myself included, in just over a week, the Circuit of the Americas outside Austin, Texas, will put the U.S. back on the Formula One map.
Hopefully the track will produce a good race, the promoters will do their job and there will be a large, enthusiastic crowd, and the race becomes an annual event that in time will be recognised as one of the most popular on the calendar.
Jim Casey
jim.casey@pitpass.com
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