1975 French Grand Prix

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Results from the 1975 Formula One French Grand Prix held at Paul Ricard on July 6, 1975.

Contents 1 Race summary 2 Classification 3 Notes 4 References

[edit] Race summary

Niki Lauda was suffering from flu and was definitely not on top form. Jean-Pierre Jarier brought a smile to French faces by setting Friday's quickest time. Jody Scheckter driving the new lightweight Tyrrell 007 set a record through the speed trap of 190mph.

On the start line, Tom Pryce was left without a clutch and retired shortly afterwards. Lauda led from Scheckter, James Hunt and Jochen Mass. Clay Regazzoni had promoted himself to a fantastic second place before his engine exploded, Scheckter taking over the position before Hunt passed him on lap 8. Lauda and Hunt maintained 1st and 2nd whilst Scheckter, struggling with near-catastrophic handling had to concede to Mass and Emerson Fittipaldi.

Jarier made a superb pass on him and made a brave bid to catch Fittipaldi, but rev-limiter problems caused him to fall back with erratic power. Mario Andretti and Patrick Depailler were performing brilliantly, advancing from 11th to 5th and 19th to 6th respectively.

Alan Jones was duelling with Ronnie Peterson and Carlos Reutemann when he spun into the catch fencing. Reutemann suffered from tyre problems and lost a lap, whilst John Watson suffered excess power and took to the escape road. Vittorio Brambilla retired with a damper problem, Wilson Fittipaldi blew his engine, Jacky Ickx, Mark Donohue and Carlos Pace broke driveshafts. Jochen Mass was in rapid pursuit of James Hunt and Niki Lauda - by the last lap he was only 2.4 seconds behind them. However, a superb lapping manoeuvre gave Hunt the space he needed. On the last corner, Lauda slid offline, but caught the car superbly to take the win by less than 2 seconds.

[edit] Classification

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	12	Niki Lauda	Ferrari	54	1:40:18.84	1	9
2	24	James Hunt	Hesketh-Ford	54	+ 1.59	3	6
3	2	Jochen Mass	McLaren-Ford	54	+ 2.31	7	4
4	1	Emerson Fittipaldi	McLaren-Ford	54	+ 39.77	10	3
5	27	Mario Andretti	Parnelli-Ford	54	+ 1:02.08	15	2
6	4	Patrick Depailler	Tyrrell-Ford	54	+ 1:07.40	13	1
7	23	Tony Brise	Hill-Ford	54	+ 1:09.61	12
8	17	Jean-Pierre Jarier	Shadow-Ford	54	+ 1:19.78	4
9	3	Jody Scheckter	Tyrrell-Ford	54	+ 1:31.68	2
10	5	Ronnie Peterson	Lotus-Ford	54	+ 1:36.02	17
11	21	Jacques Laffite	Williams-Ford	54	+ 1:36.77	16
12	15	Jean-Pierre Jabouille	Tyrrell-Ford	54	+ 1:37.13	21
13	18	John Watson	Surtees-Ford	53	+ 1 Lap	14
14	7	Carlos Reutemann	Brabham-Ford	53	+ 1 Lap	11
15	31	Gijs Van Lennep	Ensign-Ford	53	+ 1 Lap	22
16	22	Alan Jones	Hill-Ford	53	+ 1 Lap	20
17	14	Bob Evans	BRM	52	+ 2 Laps	25
18	10	Lella Lombardi	March-Ford	50	+ 4 Laps	26
Ret	8	Carlos Pace	Brabham-Ford	26	Transmission	5
Ret	6	Jacky Ickx	Lotus-Ford	17	Brakes	19
Ret	30	Wilson Fittipaldi	Fittipaldi-Ford	14	Engine	23
Ret	9	Vittorio Brambilla	March-Ford	6	Chassis	8
Ret	11	Clay Regazzoni	Ferrari	6	Engine	9
Ret	28	Mark Donohue	Penske-Ford	6	Transmission	18
Ret	16	Tom Pryce	Shadow-Ford	2	Transmission	6
DNS	20	François Migault	Williams-Ford	0	Non Starter	24

[edit] Notes

• Pole position: Niki Lauda - 1:47.82^[1]
• Fastest lap: Jochen Mass - 1:50.60 on lap 38^[2]

[edit] References

Unless otherwise indicated, all race results are taken from The Official Formula 1 website. Retrieved on 2007-06-15.

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