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  • 17/05/2025
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Transcript
00:00:00Grand Prix Formula One racing returns to its homeland of Europe after two exciting and testing events in Brazil and South Africa.
00:00:10The competition was fierce, with the turbo power advantage narrowing into a fine line that presented seven cars all qualifying within the same second at the last GP.
00:00:23But now the gloves come off as 15 teams and 27 drivers rely heavily on the knowledge gained about themselves and their competition to squeeze every last tenth of a second from their lap times, looking for any type of an advantage over one another.
00:00:43Yet it won't be the heat of Rio or the altitude of Kyle Armin that challenges men and machine here, but how best to negotiate the ultra-fast corners and extremely hard braking areas around this quick Zolder-Belgium circuit.
00:01:00When it comes to negotiations, Belgium is a fitting host. Being the world headquarters for both NATO and the European Common Market, Belgium and its capital, Brussels, is a major European center for commerce, communications, and all types of international sporting events.
00:01:20That makes this small country an excellent starting point for the Formula One World Championship to begin its 11-event European contest, taking in the entire continent.
00:01:35Belgium may be small in size and population, but not in motorsports enthusiasm and success.
00:01:42This will be their 31st Grand Prix since 1950. Historically, the long and legendary 4.3-mile circuit located at Spa-Francorchamps has hosted most of these events.
00:01:55But this year, it's Zolder's turn, and 84 marks their 10th Grand Prix since 1972. National hero and four-time Le Mans 24-hour winner, Jackie Yicks, carried the Belgium tricolor into 116 Grand Prix, scoring eight victories.
00:02:16Jackie is retired from single-seater competition, but today his protege, Thierry Bootsen, makes his lucky 13th F1 start, looking for all the success possible, driving the brand-new N7 Barkley Arrows BMW Turbo before a home crowd of 100,000-plus.
00:02:38This is John Bisignano, about 35 miles northeast of Brussels, in a cool but clear Zolder, Belgium. I'll be your host, along with Simon Taylor, for this ESPN 90-minute coverage of the Belgium Grand Prix for Formula One racing cars.
00:02:54Simon and I will be presenting the complete Grand Prix story, including driver interviews, technical reports, all the latest F1 updates, plus the fantastic Grand Prix race action. So please join us after this short message, when we return for the third round of the 1984 Grand Prix season, and a detailed look at the turbo power of Formula One. We'll be right back.
00:03:24Currently, 25 of 27 Grand Prix cars are using turbocharged engines. Seven builders are involved, with six of these being automotive manufacturers, such as Renault, Honda, BMW.
00:03:43In recent years, nothing has affected Formula One racing more than when Renault introduced the first turbo engine into modern GP racing back in 1977. It took this type of motor seven years to win the world championship.
00:04:02Now, it can be a pitfall for those of us totally involved in motorsports to assume that everyone understands the mechanics of an important element as well as we do. I found this especially true relative to the design function and operation of the turbo engine.
00:04:22Can you tell me how a turbocharger works on a Formula One engine? No? You've been around racing for years. Can you tell me how it works? You tell me how a turbo engine works on a Formula One car. Is it with the fuel? That's wrong.
00:04:49Can you explain to us how a turbocharged Formula One engine works? Yes, I think so. Basically, what happens is the fuel is injected into the turbocharger under pressure and spits out in the RPMs. That determines your RPMs, and there you go. How's that? That's wrong. How does a turbo engine in a Formula One car work? It's very easy. It almost works like another engine, but it has a turbo.
00:05:18What does the turbo do? Don't ask me. I'm not the engineer. This is normally the part of the program where we ask an expert's detailed explanation. Well, we did that and received such a detailed explanation that it even confused me, so you're going to have to rely on a non-expert's simple understanding of the turbo engine, which is my own.
00:05:48The purpose of a turbo is to provide extra air at the point and time of combustion. Now, we've all fanned an open fire with a newspaper or magazine, or seen the old cowboy movies where the blacksmith pumps away on his bellows, creating a hot enough fire to actually melt iron.
00:06:08It's the same theory behind a modern turbocharged Formula One engine. What the turbocharger does is provide extra air to the point of combustion. This creates a bigger bang because there's more air. That is what drives the pistons up and down. If you have an expansion of gas after ignition that pushes a piston up and down, the way to increase the power of that expansion of gas is to provide more air.
00:06:36Let's see how the engineers put the theory into use. Just like your passenger car, the exhaust comes out of the engine, but then it's channeled through a turbofan. This fan can turn up to 100,000 times a minute. Then it's expelled out the back of the car through the tailpipe.
00:06:54Now, what happens once this fan is running by the exhaust fumes, it sucks air from the outside into this compressor, and that is where you double your atmosphere one or two times. As the air is now doubled one or two times, it passes through a quite large cooling system called an intercooler. Many people think it should be called an aftercooler because what it's doing is cooling the air after it's been compressed.
00:07:21Now, it goes from about 200 degrees centigrade through this cooler, and when it comes out, it's about 40 degrees centigrade, which is an acceptable temperature to go into the combustion chamber where it's mixed with the fuel, and that's where it all happens. The big bang. Fuel plus one, two, or possibly three times the normal atmosphere. More air, bigger bang, and a lot more power.
00:07:51Thierry Brutzen, driving for Team Barclay Arrows. Thierry, this weekend you have 650 horsepower at the back of your head rather than 525. Is that a big difference?
00:08:03The engine is just great. You know, the amount of power we have now, it's just incredible. You can't believe it when you first drive it. It's really, really good. But after a while, you get used to it, and it's just like a normal engine after, well, maybe after one day, you know. But when you first start it, it's just incredible.
00:08:20Well, do you have to adapt your driving style differently to handle that 125, 130 extra horsepower?
00:08:30Well, you have to do it for the extra horsepower, but you also have to do it for the turbo lag, you know. The throttle lag is quite long compared to a normal aspirated engine with these turbos, and you have to adapt your driving style to the turbo. That's right.
00:08:44This is the first year that you've actually been able to keep up with much of the competition on the straightaway. That must help your mental approach to the Grand Prix weekend.
00:08:55Yeah, that's right. For me, it's like a new start in Formula 1, you know. Now I can keep up with the big guys with the big cars, you know. They were in front of me all the time in the past, but now I can keep up with them on the straightaway. It's really nice.
00:09:09Technically, you would rather be a turbo driver, then, for sure.
00:09:12Oh, yeah, for sure. That's right.
00:09:14It's the only way to win at this point in Formula 1.
00:09:17Yes, because the engines are so powerful compared to the old Cosworth. The difference is very, very big, and we have to have a turbo to win a race now.
00:09:24You have an added responsibility here in Belgium to perform well. Is that an extra weight on your shoulders, being in your home Grand Prix?
00:09:33I don't think so. I think it's just like a normal race for me, and I'm starting with a brand new car, brand new engine, and we have to develop it completely from scratch. I think the work is important, and I don't see why I would have more pressure here than anywhere else. I do the same job here in all the races.
00:09:56The development of the turbo racing engine is another great example how motorsports continues to help with the safety and efficiency of road cars, but on the track, the racing turbo exists for only one reason, because there's still no substitute for pure horsepower.
00:10:16Simon Taylor will return with the qualifying story right after this short message. Stay with us.
00:10:25Nicky Lauda, the most experienced Grand Prix driver in the business, leads the field out for qualifying here for the Belgian Grand Prix at Zolder.
00:10:41It's two years since the Belgian Grand Prix has been held at this circuit, and so qualifying and practice is all important, not only to ensure that the cars are perfectly set up for the race, but also to earn the best positions on the starting grid. The fastest qualifying time gets pole position, and that's a real advantage to start the race with.
00:11:02As John was telling us, these cars develop about 650 horsepower in race trim, but now, when they're set up for qualifying, when their turbocharged engines don't have to last for 200 miles, but have to develop maximum power just for a few minutes, the turbocharger boost is wound up, and they may be developing as much as 800 horsepower.
00:11:23They're also using very different tyres for qualifying, the stickiest, softest rubber that they've got. This is Alain Prost, the current world championship leader, the teammate of Nicky Lauda in the McLaren, but this is the man who's got the pole position, Michele Alboreto, the young new recruit into the Ferrari team. He has put the turbocharged Ferrari onto pole position with the quickest lap of all.
00:11:47On the tight, twisting 2.6 mile circuit, he's averaged over 127 miles an hour.
00:11:55Michele Alboreto, on pole position here at the Belgium Grand Prix. You look like you were working very hard out there, Michele.
00:12:02Yeah, we worked very hard about the race, because we tried a lot the race tyres and the full tanks this morning, and in the afternoon, with a qualified car, it's perfect. I have no problem to do in pole position.
00:12:16Well, let me ask you, yesterday you were 10th in qualifying, and today you were 3.5 seconds faster. What were the changes you made to the car?
00:12:25Yesterday morning, we tried a lot with the full tanks and the race tyres, and we have not tested with the qualifier. In fact, in the afternoon, the car has not the right balance for the qualified tyres.
00:12:37This morning, we tried for half an hour the qualified tyres to fix the right balance, the aerodynamic balance, and in the afternoon, we have no problem.
00:12:46Tyres are very important here, and Goodyear was, in the first part of the season, having a little bit of trouble with their radials, but now they seem to have got them quite right.
00:12:56Yeah, but here, the tyres are not bad. Qualified tyres, but especially the race tyres are very good. And I'm very happy, because tomorrow it's very important to have very good tyres.
00:13:08Now, you started from pole position many times in your Formula 2 career, but this is your first pole position in Formula 1. What's it going to be like to have another 25 F1 cars behind you tomorrow?
00:13:20I tried that in Brazil, and I think I prefer this situation than the Kyle Lamy situation.
00:13:28You're the first Italian driver for Ferrari in many years, brought into the team by Enzo himself. This has to be a lifelong dream for you, to be on the front row of a 1-2 qualifying for Ferrari position?
00:13:40I'm very happy, because for an Italian driver, it's very important to drive good with Ferrari. And I'm so happy now, and I hope to drive good for all the season.
00:13:53It's a 1-2 qualifying for Ferrari, because this man, the little Frenchman René Arnoux, with the staring brown eyes, was just half a second slower than his teammate, and that makes him second fastest of all.
00:14:06With the two red Ferraris on the front of the grid, a lot of memories go back two years this day, when the very popular French-Canadian Gilles Villeneuve crashed Ferrari number 27 and was fatally injured.
00:14:21In his memory, the whole Ferrari team want to put on a good show here at Zolder.
00:14:28So Ferrari's first and second, and this man third quickest, the white and green Williams Honda of the Finnish driver Keki Rosberg, world champion two years ago, and now with the turbocharged Honda engine in the back of the British Williams.
00:14:43Rosberg always one of the hardest chargers in the Grand Prix circus, but a car that isn't right yet.
00:14:50Keki, you've qualified very well in the last two races. Do you feel the Honda is totally competitive against the Ferraris and Renaults now?
00:14:59Well, first of all, I think part of the reason why we're qualifying well is that I think I'm about the only human being in the world who enjoys qualifying, because I think that's what racing is about, is to try to go fast.
00:15:11Yeah, we're pretty pleased with the engine. There's been a lot of development going on lately and will be in the future.
00:15:18Yeah, we're competitive with the engine. We haven't got anything that we should say is superior, but a good, honest engine at the moment.
00:15:26I would say our main problems have been more in the chassis department than in the engine.
00:15:33You say you enjoy qualifying. Is it the challenge to just squeeze the last tenth of a second out of a track and conditions and equipment possible? Is that what you enjoy about it?
00:15:43I suppose it's that as well, but also it gives you one opportunity to enjoy a car and just forget how badly it handles, how well it handles, is it understeering, bushing, I'm sorry, or what the bad habits of it are. You just go for it.
00:16:00Can a driver make up for bad characteristics of a car on a giving day?
00:16:05I don't know. Can a bad car make up for a good driver or a good car for a bad driver? It's a question that nobody will ever be able to answer.
00:16:14You also enjoy the Zolder circuit with the fast sections and hard braking?
00:16:20Yeah, Zolder is quite a challenging circuit. It's not necessarily the safest, but it's definitely a challenging track.
00:16:27Are you looking forward for the rest of the season with the chassis becoming more competitive, with more development?
00:16:35Definitely, because I think once we get our homework sorted, we'll be alright.
00:16:40Starting in third position, what's your race plan to bring about a win?
00:16:45We haven't got one yet.
00:16:48No, there will be, there always is some sort of, I would say mainly it depends on tyres, what sort of tyre you decide to run, from the sortiment that Goodyear supplies you.
00:17:01Is there a weak link that you have to nurse in the beginning when the car is very heavy on fuel, or is it a tyre that you can really go fairly freely on? We'll see.
00:17:12Fourth quickest, and in fact a bit disappointed only to be fourth, is this man, the Englishman Derek Warwick, squeezing his stocky frame down into the tight cockpit of the Renault Turbo.
00:17:24In Friday's first day of qualifying, he had pole position and he hoped to go even faster for Saturday.
00:17:31He did go faster, but not fast enough, not quick enough to stay ahead of the Ferraris, not quick enough to stay ahead of Rosberg.
00:17:39But a quick time nevertheless.
00:17:42We'll be right back after this short break with more ESPN Auto Racing 84 and the start of the Belgian Grand Prix.
00:17:51Race day has dawned bright and clear and sunny here in Belgium, and all around Zolder a huge crowd of excited Belgians have queued up for the best positions since dawn.
00:18:10Now their waiting is almost over because the 26 car grid is down there, lined up before the final warm-up lap.
00:18:19When they'll get the warmth into their tyres, they'll get their engines warmed and they'll wait for the red light and then the green that will start the 70 lap race.
00:18:28Up at the front with the Ferrari mechanics fussing around is Michele Alboreto in car number 27 on that pole position that he worked so hard to get during qualifying.
00:18:39Just behind him and to his right, his team mate René Arnoux in Ferrari number 28.
00:18:45The Belgian crowd waits. A hush falls as they start to clear the grid preparatory to the final warm-up.
00:18:54The green flag sends them on their way. Ferrari 27 Alboreto, Ferrari 28 Arnoux, Williams 6 Rosberg, and then Derek Warrick, Elio de Angelis, Finkelhock, Patrese and Alain Prost as they go round the left-hander that starts off the circuit through the chicane behind the pits, weaving to warm up their tyres and ensure that there's the maximum grip right from the start.
00:19:22There's Piquet, Mansell, Cheever, Tambay, Niki Lauda.
00:19:28From this chicane, the circuit goes round the double right-hander at Terlamen, the tight bottom-gear corner at Boulderbergbocht, two more tight chicanes called after great drivers of the past, the Jochen Rindtbocht and the Jacky Ickxbocht, before the downhill drag towards the start-finish line.
00:19:50Alboreto leads the field slowly round. Ickx, Rosberg, Warrick follow him. The black Lotus of Elio de Angelis and the yellow ATS of Finkelhock.
00:20:04Further down the grid, we have de Cesaris in the Ligier, Lauda in the Marlboro McLaren, Jacques Lafitte in the second Williams Honda, former Venezuelan world motorcycle champion Johnny Chacotto in the Tolman, Thierry Bootsen, the Belgian, with the new Arrows Turbo BMW.
00:20:22And as the only Belgian in the race, he is the centre of a lot of eyes here. But now, all the drivers' eyes are on the starting lights. Everybody present and correct, all 26 cars lined up in staggered echelon. There are the lights. The red light means get ready, the green light means go.
00:20:43There's the red. There's the green, the field move away, and Keki Rosberg falters. Keki Rosberg almost stalls in the Williams Honda, and Nelson Piquet is forced to go on the grass to go round him, but it's Alboreto who's made the best start, and a wonderful start from Derek Warrick in the yellow Renault, who's come up into second place.
00:21:04René Arnoux is third, but it's Warrick who went by him in the yellow Renault, so Alboreto in the Ferrari leads, Derek Warrick is second in the Renault, third is René Arnoux, and fourth, having made an equally good start, is the German Manfred Winkelhoff.
00:21:20But right at the back of the field is poor Keki Rosberg, his car moved when the light went green, but it then faltered and came to a complete halt, and Rosberg is right at the back of the 26 car field, right at the front, Alboreto, Warrick, Arnoux, Winkelhoff, and then Riccardo Patrese, who's also made a good start in the green Alfa Romeo.
00:21:42But on the first of 70 laps, Alboreto is right out in front, and seems to be determined to stay there.
00:21:48Down towards the tight Bolderberg corner, bottom gear for the first of 70 times, and the field close up under braking.
00:21:58Elio de Angelis is now ahead of Patrese, Patrick Tambay is trying to make up places from his lowly grid position.
00:22:06Heino waves Keki Rosberg through, already Rosberg has passed four or five cars, but up at the front into the Jacky Ickx corner for the first time, and on down towards the completion of the first lap go Alboreto, Warrick, Arnoux, Winkelhoff, Elio de Angelis, and Patrese in the Alfa.
00:22:26The left-hander at Stereobacht, third gear, long and slippery, de Angelis goes through.
00:22:33On towards the Canal Turn, that's the double apex right-hander, the short straight up to Lucien Bianchi Bart, that's this corner, and then the long back straight, which ends in the tight chicane behind the pits.
00:22:46Ferrari, Renault, Ferrari, ATS.
00:22:51Alboreto leading as he led the first Grand Prix of the year in Brazil, through that chicane, up over the Brava hill, down the other side, and towards the double corner of Terlani.
00:23:03That's the first apex.
00:23:06There's the second apex.
00:23:08And Alboreto doesn't seem to be getting away from Derek Warrick at this stage, and René Arnoux sitting behind waiting to see what happens, weaving under braking for the tight bottom gear corner at Voldemort.
00:23:19And somebody's going very slowly, that's one of the Tolemans already in trouble.
00:23:24And the blue flags wave, but he doesn't need to be told that the whole of the field is pouring past him, that's Johnny Cicotto in trouble already with the Toleman.
00:23:34Already two of the 70 laps completed, and the Ferrari and the Renault spacing out a little bit at the front, with Arnoux still third.
00:23:42Sterevac'd corner, there indeed is Johnny Cicotto who takes the slip road towards the pits, and his race is already run.
00:23:52A little glance in the mirror for Alboreto as he goes through the chicane, and he is pulling away from Derek Warrick, of that there is no doubt.
00:24:01But Arnoux doesn't seem to be getting any closer to Warrick, and all three of these leaders pulling away now from fourth man Winkelhock in the ATS.
00:24:10Tell Armand once more, down to Voldemort.
00:24:15So the Ferrari, the Renault, the Ferrari in sight, those are the first three.
00:24:19The ATS of Winkelhock is fourth.
00:24:22In fifth place now, it's Elio de Angelis, and in sixth place, Ricciardo Petrezzi with the Alfa Romeo.
00:24:28Seventh, car number seven, which is Alain Prost in the Marlboro McLaren, but he's out of touch with the leaders at the moment.
00:24:37And as they come down the start-finish straight once more, there is no sign of the green Alfa Romeo number 22, Ricciardo Petrezzi.
00:24:45Petrezzi, who was running sixth, is missing, and already that must be the second retirement of this race.
00:24:52So a race of attrition here at Zolder already.
00:24:55This very punishing, very tight circuit.
00:24:57There is Petrezzi's car.
00:24:59It's parked by the side of the road against the Armco barrier.
00:25:02No damage.
00:25:03It looks just like some sort of mechanical failure, and indeed Petrezzi is trudging back to the pits.
00:25:09Still Derek Warwick, the meat in the Ferrari sandwich at the front of this race,
00:25:14and Alboreto just easing out a little tiny bit on every lap,
00:25:18but Warwick not able to close because he's got to concentrate on keeping a defensive line,
00:25:25with Alboreto's teammate René Arnoux dogging his every move.
00:25:30So, the Belgian Grand Prix being run already at a furious pace.
00:25:34We'll be right back after this short message with more ESPN Auto Racing 84.
00:25:46And as you rejoin us here in Belgium, drama for the current World Championship leader,
00:25:51Alain Prost, in the red and white Marlboro McLaren.
00:25:54Going very slowly between the Canal Turn and the Lucien Bianchi Bacht.
00:25:59He was running in 6th place, and indeed was starting to close on the cars in front of him,
00:26:04but now they're long gone, and he's coming to a halt.
00:26:08The back of the car smoking appreciably, and I think there's no doubt that the Frenchman's race is run.
00:26:14Alboreto, meanwhile, has pulled out quite comfortably from Derek Warwick, a big lead now.
00:26:19And René Arnoux in turn, yes, there is Prost's car absolutely on fire.
00:26:25So, serious mechanical maladies for Alain Prost's McLaren.
00:26:29That means Niki Lauda is the sole surviving McLaren in the race.
00:26:34He's now running in 11th place, and not really in the points battle at the moment.
00:26:41Coming up into the points battle now is the reigning World Champion, Nelson Piquet, in the Brabham number 1.
00:26:48He is now on the tail of Elio De Angelis, the Italian in the back Lotus.
00:26:52Here they are coming into Terlamen.
00:26:55De Angelis in the Lotus is 5th.
00:26:57Piquet in the Brabham has come up into 6th place.
00:27:00You get a championship point for finishing 6th, you get 2 points for finishing 5th,
00:27:05and both of these drivers want to move up higher than that.
00:27:08Through Voldemort, De Angelis and Piquet.
00:27:11And remember that Piquet has scored no championship points at all so far this year,
00:27:16and in this 3rd Grand Prix, he wants to be 3rd time lucky.
00:27:21This is the JackyX chicane.
00:27:23On now to the start-finish straight.
00:27:25And it'll be interesting to see which is the faster car in the straight section.
00:27:29Can the white car, the Brabham with the BMW engine,
00:27:32close on the black car, the Lotus, with the Renault engine?
00:27:36And in fact, it's in the corners that the Brabham gets closer.
00:27:39And under sheer acceleration down the straights, the Lotus does seem to be able to pull away.
00:27:443.9 seconds is Warwick's gap from Alboreto,
00:27:48and Arnoux is a further 3.1 seconds behind.
00:27:52He's got Winkelhock very, very close to him indeed.
00:27:55So the first three have spaced out just a little bit,
00:27:58but René Arnoux's 3rd place looking in danger from the German in the ATS.
00:28:03And still, the 5th and 6th battle goes on,
00:28:06with Piquet close but not close enough.
00:28:08Through the chicane behind the pits, De Angelis clouts the kerb briefly,
00:28:13and we've got the Belgian in the pits, that's Thierry Bootsum.
00:28:17Oh dear, it looks serious, the engine cover comes off,
00:28:20the BMW turbo in the back of the Arrows.
00:28:23This is the first Arrows race with turbocharged power,
00:28:26and it doesn't seem to be going well.
00:28:28Meanwhile, two turbos battling here, and the Brabham is alongside!
00:28:32The Brabham is through!
00:28:34Out of the Jacky Ickx chicane, Piquet was just that much quicker.
00:28:38He was close enough to be able to get a run on Elio De Angelis,
00:28:42and he was alongside and through,
00:28:44and there was nothing De Angelis could do about it.
00:28:47A little puff of flame from the back of the Brabham there as he changes down.
00:28:54Alboreto goes on his way, a long gap now before we see Derek Warwick.
00:28:58So Warwick apparently content at the moment to sit behind Alboreto
00:29:04and not to try to stay with him or to seek to take the lead.
00:29:07And remember that most of these drivers are going to have to make pit stops
00:29:11for fresh tyres.
00:29:13We don't at this point know which ones,
00:29:15because Derek Warwick told me before the race
00:29:18that he was going to start on slightly harder compound tyres,
00:29:22and he was going to try to do the whole race without a stop.
00:29:26I'm sure the way Alboreto is running away with this race at the front of the field
00:29:30that he is on the softer compound tyres.
00:29:33We're certainly going to see a pit stop for the Ferrari.
00:29:35Will the Renault be able to go the whole distance without a stop?
00:29:40The refueling stops, which we had last year, of course, have now been banned.
00:29:45No car may take on more fuel during the race,
00:29:48and no fuel tank on any of these cars may be more than 220 litres.
00:29:54Now that means that their turbochargers mustn't be turned up to too much boost,
00:29:59or they'll use their fuel too quickly.
00:30:01So the whole race there's Thierry Bootsen rejoining after a long stop
00:30:06for work on his BMW engine in the back of that Arrows.
00:30:10That's Patrick Tambay leading Niki Lauda,
00:30:13and goodness me, that's Keki Rosberg.
00:30:15Keki Rosberg in the Williams is the third of those three cars,
00:30:19and he has come absolutely storming up the field.
00:30:22He's now already in 10th place, having started 26th.
00:30:27So the man from Finland, the ex-world champion in the British car
00:30:32with the Japanese engine, is absolutely flying.
00:30:35He's got Niki Lauda ahead of him.
00:30:37Ahead of Niki Lauda is Patrick Tambay.
00:30:39Tambay is, of course, Derek Warrick's teammate in the Renault.
00:30:42Lauda closing on Tambay and Keki Rosberg closing on the two of them.
00:30:48A great midfield battle for 8th place through the chicane,
00:30:52and Lauda very, very close to Tambay as they go up the hill,
00:30:55over the brow, down the other side, and Rosberg is up with them too,
00:30:59into Terlamen.
00:31:01Now Lauda's in a difficult position in the middle of these three.
00:31:04He wants to attack the Renault in front of him,
00:31:06but he mustn't do it in such a way to leave a gap,
00:31:10leave the door open in racing parlance,
00:31:12which will allow Rosberg to get up alongside him.
00:31:15Through Voldemort.
00:31:17The Jochenrich chicane immediately after it.
00:31:19Hard on the power.
00:31:21600 horsepower going through the back wheels.
00:31:23Lauda in the middle and Rosberg having a look at the inside.
00:31:27He dives back into the slipstream
00:31:29as they go through the Jacky Ickx corner onto the long straight now,
00:31:33and look how close, look how close is Rosberg.
00:31:36Rosberg is attacking Lauda.
00:31:38Rosberg up the inside, on the brakes as they go into the corner,
00:31:41chops back across to take his line,
00:31:43and Keki Rosberg has taken 9th place from Niki Lauda,
00:31:47just as Niki Lauda was trying to take 8th place from Patrick Tambay.
00:31:51Now, is Lauda going to stay with Rosberg,
00:31:54and are they both going to be able to get past the Renault?
00:31:57We see again the Williams pass the McLaren,
00:32:00and a little weave under braking there from Rosberg in the Williams
00:32:05as he's hard on the brakes,
00:32:07leaving his braking as deep into the corner there
00:32:09on that overtaking manoeuvre as he can.
00:32:12And Lauda now hangs back a little bit.
00:32:15Lauda is going to let Rosberg get on with it.
00:32:18For the moment, he's going to just stay and watch.
00:32:21So they come into Voldemort once more.
00:32:23Tambay in the Renault.
00:32:25Rosberg in the Williams.
00:32:26Lauda in the McLaren.
00:32:28And Lauda's teammate Prost, remember, is already out of the race.
00:32:32Up to the Jacky Ickx chicane.
00:32:35This was where Rosberg was able to get a run on Lauda.
00:32:40Can he do the same thing on the Renault?
00:32:42The Renault has an awful lot of power,
00:32:44but they are side by side as they come down the long straight.
00:32:47And once again, Rosberg has to leave his braking very, very late.
00:32:51And he takes a tight line through that apex.
00:32:54Tambay fights back briefly as they go into the canal turn.
00:32:57But Rosberg's having absolutely none of that.
00:33:00He's hard on the live pedal, and he's pulling away.
00:33:03We see it again. Tambay doesn't make it easy for him.
00:33:06But Rosberg, clinging to a tight line, goes through in the Williams.
00:33:10Lots of excitement here in Belgium.
00:33:12We've got Nigel Mansell's Lotus Number 12 coming in for an early stop.
00:33:16And we'll be right back after this short break with more ESPN Auto Racing 84.
00:33:22And the punishing pace of this Belgian Grand Prix at Zolder
00:33:26claims another victim, Jacques Lafitte.
00:33:28Keke Rosberg's teammate with the Williams Honda has come to a halt.
00:33:32And still, this man, Michele Alboreto, on his 16th lap now of the 70,
00:33:37on his way with this comfortable cushion, back to second man Derek Warwick.
00:33:42Still in third place is René Arnoux with the other Ferrari.
00:33:45Still in fourth place is the Dutchman,
00:33:47Still in third place is René Arnoux with the other Ferrari.
00:33:50Still in fourth place and going well, the ATS of Manfred Winkelhock.
00:33:54And still the battle for fifth and sixth places.
00:33:58But it's Piquet who has now gone ahead in the Brabham of Elio de Angelis in the Lotus.
00:34:06That's Warwick coming through to lap Thierry Bootsen.
00:34:09He's eight and a half seconds behind the leading Ferrari,
00:34:13but he's eight and a half seconds in front of this Ferrari.
00:34:16In the picture now, René Arnoux, who has got now three cars behind him,
00:34:21because Winkelhock is still fourth.
00:34:24Nelson Piquet is now fifth and closing.
00:34:27And not very far behind is the sixth place battle on the screen now,
00:34:31the Lotus and the Alfa Romeo of de Angelis and Eddie Cheever.
00:34:38Cheever using every inch of the road there.
00:34:40They're passing one of the back markers.
00:34:42Oh, and Cheever very nearly had nowhere to go there.
00:34:45And Thierry Bootsen back into the pits once more,
00:34:48not having a happy race at all with the BMW Powered Arrows.
00:34:54And the battle for sixth, seventh and eighth places now has Keke Rosberg in eighth place.
00:35:00Eddie Cheever seventh, but Rosberg is fighting.
00:35:03What a wonderful drive up the field this man has had.
00:35:06Rosberg goes into seventh place.
00:35:08Cheever fights back, but has to give best.
00:35:11De Angelis, ahead of them in sixth place, pulls away a little bit while that's going on.
00:35:14But Cheever isn't going to give up.
00:35:16Cheever attacks over the brow.
00:35:18Eddie Cheever, the American in the Alfa Romeo,
00:35:21fighting back against Rosberg, the Finn in the British Williams.
00:35:25We see it again. Rosberg alongside and in front.
00:35:28Cheever chops back as they come in breaking for the chicane.
00:35:32But Rosberg's much too old a hand for that,
00:35:36and he keeps the door firmly shut in Cheever's face.
00:35:39Now, the Lotus at the front has pulled away a little bit while all of that's going on.
00:35:43How long is it going to take Keke Rosberg, the middle of those three cars,
00:35:47to close on the Renault?
00:35:49And Cheever still with Rosberg.
00:35:51Cheever isn't giving up.
00:35:53Meanwhile, ahead of them, there's been another place change,
00:35:56because Manfred Winkelhock has lost his fourth place.
00:36:00At last, Nelson Piquet has got by.
00:36:02So, behind the Ferrari-Renault-Ferrari trio at the front,
00:36:07it's now Nelson Piquet's Brabham fourth,
00:36:10Manfred Winkelhock's ATS fifth,
00:36:13and sixth still, Elio de Angelis,
00:36:16but Keke Rosberg's going to change that as soon as he can.
00:36:22Cheever at the back of that group.
00:36:23That is the ATS.
00:36:25That is the Lotus.
00:36:26That is the Williams Honda.
00:36:28And with 22 laps completed, you see the gaps.
00:36:31Warwick is 13.5 seconds behind Michele Alboreto,
00:36:34but is 18 seconds ahead of Arnoux.
00:36:37And now, Arnoux, Piquet, Winkelhock,
00:36:41de Angelis, Rosberg and Cheever,
00:36:43those six cars all in a wonderful train,
00:36:47battling over third place.
00:36:49At the front of this queue is the Ferrari,
00:36:52but Piquet is closing, closing all the time,
00:36:56in the canal turn.
00:36:58Winkelhock following them on in fifth place.
00:37:02The ATS, the yellow and black ATS,
00:37:04having a very strong race indeed.
00:37:06Down to the Lucien Bianchi corner, Ferrari, Brabham and ATS.
00:37:12Over the bumps, down the back straight,
00:37:14the heat shimmering on the road,
00:37:17and Piquet not looking to overtake yet,
00:37:20but looking to drive as neatly and as tidily as he possibly can.
00:37:25Over the bram, down to Terlame.
00:37:29Arnoux responding to the challenge a little bit now,
00:37:32pulling away perhaps a fraction from Piquet.
00:37:35But as they come down to the bottom gear corner at Voldemburg,
00:37:39the slowest portion of the circuit,
00:37:41the cars weaving under braking down to about 40 miles an hour.
00:37:44Out under hard acceleration into the Jockenrind curve,
00:37:48they're all closing up once more.
00:37:50And now as they come down to the Jacky Ickx corner,
00:37:53Piquet is starting to close on Arnoux once more.
00:37:59Out of the Jacky Ickx chicane, on down the start-finish straight.
00:38:03And in the background, a flash of a white and yellow car.
00:38:07Keke Rosberg has done it.
00:38:09Keke Rosberg has passed Elio de Angelis's Lotus at last.
00:38:13We didn't see it, but it's happened.
00:38:15So René Arnoux third, Nelson Piquet fourth,
00:38:19Manfred Winkelhock fifth,
00:38:21and Keke Rosberg, the man who started the race in 26th position,
00:38:25is now sixth and in the championship points,
00:38:28and Nelson Piquet's going to challenge.
00:38:30Nelson Piquet's alongside and through at the Lucien Bianchi corner,
00:38:34a place that I've never seen a modern Grand Prix car pass another one,
00:38:38because that's a very fast, difficult, fourth-gear right-hander.
00:38:43Piquet just slithers past,
00:38:46and a surprised René Arnoux can do absolutely nothing about it.
00:38:50And that's Patrick Tambay in the pens.
00:38:52Patrick Tambay has the first of our routine tyre stops.
00:38:56Four new wheels and tyres on Patrick Tambay's Renault.
00:38:59He's out on the pits once more,
00:39:01but Tambay has been running well down the field, in fact.
00:39:04Clearly not as happy with the handling of his Renault
00:39:07as is Derek Warwick, who passes him now.
00:39:10Derek Warwick laps him. Warwick's still in second place.
00:39:14And the fourth-placed Ferrari is in.
00:39:16Now, this is René Arnoux having just lost his third place to Nelson Piquet.
00:39:21Tambay clearly feels the new tyres are going to help him on his way to make that place up.
00:39:26The stopwatch shows how long the car's been stationary.
00:39:29They're changing four wheels and tyres, and it's a slow one.
00:39:33This is a slow one. They had a trouble with the front left-hand wheel.
00:39:37That was 18½ stationary seconds for RenĂ© Arnoux,
00:39:42roughly double the time that it takes these crack pit teams to change tyres.
00:39:47And that won't have pleased René Arnoux at all.
00:39:50He's now just warming up his new set of tyres.
00:39:52He won't go absolutely flat out straight away.
00:39:55That is François Hainault walking away from his Ligier.
00:40:00François Hainault retires. He was well down the field.
00:40:03This man is well up the field.
00:40:05It's Michele Alboreto still in the lead with Ferrari number 27.
00:40:09And at the moment, he's all on his own.
00:40:12We think he's going to make a stop for fresh tyres.
00:40:16We don't know whether Derek Warwick in second place will.
00:40:19We don't equally know whether Nelson Piquet in third place will.
00:40:23But his team-mate there, number 28, who saw a glimpse of him,
00:40:27is now almost a complete lap behind.
00:40:29That's René Arnoux, who was in fourth place till his rather tardy stop for fresh tyres.
00:40:35And he is now going to be lapped by his team-mate Michele Alboreto,
00:40:39who we think has a pit stop for tyres still to make.
00:40:43More race action, more pit stop action from ESPN after this short break.
00:40:52You rejoin us in Belgium as second man Derek Warwick starts his 29th lap.
00:40:57Still Michele Alboreto out in front in the Ferrari.
00:41:00And still in third place, Nelson Piquet with the Brabham.
00:41:04In fourth place now, after a wonderful drive up the field,
00:41:07is Keke Rosberg in the Williams Honda.
00:41:10And in fifth place, the American Eddie Cheever,
00:41:13going very strongly with the Alfa Romeo.
00:41:16Sixth is Manfred Winkelhock. There he is with the ATS.
00:41:20And seventh, the black car behind him, is Lotus man Elio de Angelis.
00:41:26So de Angelis out of the championship points at the moment,
00:41:29but fighting to stay with...
00:41:31Oh, and that's a smoking car there!
00:41:33That is Eddie Cheever!
00:41:35Eddie Cheever with a blown engine!
00:41:37Eddie Cheever with smoke coming out of his exhaust pipes.
00:41:42He has a quick look round the back of despairing gesture.
00:41:47Once again, the Alfa Romeo has let Eddie Cheever down.
00:41:51And Cheever out of the race, and Keke Rosberg very much in the race.
00:41:56Keke Rosberg is now on the tail of the third man, Nelson Piquet.
00:42:02This fantastic drive has taken Rosberg from 26th place to fourth,
00:42:07and he's on the world champion's tail for third.
00:42:11Out of the Jacky Ickx chicane, down the long straight.
00:42:14This time, Rosberg isn't quite close enough in the slipstream to get into contention.
00:42:18But even so, he has a cheeky little look at the inside line,
00:42:22as they brake for the left-hander at Sterebacht.
00:42:25And now, Niki Lauda in the pits for his pit stop.
00:42:28He is well down. He has been running in eighth place.
00:42:33His teammate, Alain Prost, already out of the race.
00:42:36The new tyres going on for Niki Lauda, who sits impassively in the cockpit.
00:42:40Oh, and it's a quick stop.
00:42:42Nine and a half seconds. 9.57 seconds is how long the car was stationary.
00:42:47And meanwhile, we're back with this tremendous battle for third place.
00:42:52Oh, and Piquet's off!
00:42:54The battle for third place is won by Keki Rosberg.
00:42:58Nelson Piquet made a little mistake, a most untypical mistake there.
00:43:03He went wide on the tight bottom gear right-hander at Woldebergbocht,
00:43:10and that was all that Rosberg needed to drive straight through the inside and pull away.
00:43:16Keki Rosberg, now, away in third place, all the way up from 26th.
00:43:22And that high-speed man in the pits is Derek Warwick.
00:43:26Derek Warwick, the second-place man, is in the pits.
00:43:28Watch the stopwatch. The jacks go on the car.
00:43:31This is a very, very important stop.
00:43:33If this can be quicker than Alboreto's, when he stops, then it could affect the result of the race.
00:43:38And they've finished at the back, they've finished at the front.
00:43:40It's 11 and a half seconds. It's not perfect, but it's very good.
00:43:44All the power goes through the spinning rear wheels
00:43:47as the British driver accelerates down the pit road.
00:43:50Once again, he rejoins just by his teammate.
00:43:54And there is the other yellow car that's been running at the front.
00:43:57That's the German ATS of Winkelhock.
00:44:00And he gets his fresh tyres, the mechanics swarming over the back of the car.
00:44:05It's not quite such a quick one.
00:44:07Yes, the right-hand rear wheel is being slow.
00:44:10Spurts of flame from the exhaust as Winkelhock keeps the engine running.
00:44:15Come on, get it off the jacks, he says.
00:44:18Now it's off the jack. 27 seconds. That was a slow one.
00:44:2327 seconds for the ATS of Winkelhock.
00:44:27It was the right rear wheel that held them up.
00:44:29But Winkelhock is back in the race.
00:44:31But he is now well out of the championship points hunt.
00:44:34And that's a shame for him.
00:44:36Derek Warwick now ahead of Nelson Piquet.
00:44:39Now that's very interesting, because that pinpoints for us
00:44:42exactly where Warwick has come out.
00:44:44Warwick has come out in front of Nelson Piquet,
00:44:47on his fresh tyres after his pitstops.
00:44:50So Derek Warwick is third.
00:44:53Alboreto the leader, but he still has to stop.
00:44:56Keke Rosberg now in a stunning second place.
00:45:00But he presumably has a pitstop still to come.
00:45:03Derek Warwick with his pitstop made is in third place,
00:45:07ahead of fourth man Nelson Piquet.
00:45:10Warwick is the front runner who has already stopped.
00:45:14Now, the real $64,000 question is,
00:45:18are all these other front runners,
00:45:20apart from Derek Warwick, going to stop?
00:45:22Are one or two of them going to try and gamble
00:45:26on making their tyres last to the end of the race?
00:45:28Here comes Alboreto to lap.
00:45:30Theo Fabi, the white Brabham there,
00:45:33is the Brabham number two.
00:45:35That is Theo Fabi, Nelson Piquet's teammate.
00:45:38And behind him, the blue car number three,
00:45:42is the English driver Martin Brundle with the Tyrrell.
00:45:45Martin Brundle, who uses a non-turbocharged engine.
00:45:49Oh, and that's Alboreto off!
00:45:51Alboreto, the leader, is off the track.
00:45:54He's back on again,
00:45:56but just as we saw Nelson Piquet slide off the circuit
00:46:00with all four wheels in the dirt,
00:46:02Michele Alboreto, the race leader,
00:46:04came dangerously near those armchair barriers
00:46:07at the left-hander at Sterram Act.
00:46:10I think his rear tyres must be shot
00:46:12because look how the back of the car hangs out.
00:46:15And he manages, by a miracle,
00:46:18bouncing across the kerb
00:46:20to get the car back onto the tarmac
00:46:22without getting any nearer the armchair barrier
00:46:25than he wants to.
00:46:26And he's back on the circuit,
00:46:28but that must have given Michele Alboreto a real fright.
00:46:32He still has the lead.
00:46:33A long way back is the second man,
00:46:38Keke Rosberg, in the Williams.
00:46:41But that shows that this circuit
00:46:44must be getting very, very slippery indeed.
00:46:47There's Theo Farbe and Martin Brundle
00:46:49who went past the leader again,
00:46:51unlapped themselves while he was busy
00:46:53driving through the dirt.
00:46:55And as Farbe and Brundle come out
00:46:57of the Jochen Rindt chicane,
00:46:59behind them the two Ferraris on different laps.
00:47:02The leader, 27.
00:47:04Oh, and he's in the pits!
00:47:05He's in the pit lane!
00:47:06He's coming in for his tyres.
00:47:07So that moment was prophetic.
00:47:10His slide off the track has convinced him
00:47:13that he does need to come in for fresh rubber.
00:47:15And so the leader, Michele Alboreto, is in the pits.
00:47:18Now, this pit stop will decide
00:47:21the outcome of an awful lot of this motor race
00:47:25if they can get him back into the race,
00:47:27if they can get him back out again
00:47:29without...
00:47:30Oh, it's a very quick one!
00:47:31It's a quick one indeed!
00:47:3311.34 seconds to change all four wheels.
00:47:36No problems at all.
00:47:38Michele Alboreto comes out again of the pit lane,
00:47:41straight back into the race.
00:47:43And Michele Alboreto keeps the lead.
00:47:47So, Ferrari number 27 has made its pit stop.
00:47:51Ferrari number 27 has had a narrow escape
00:47:54from disaster against the Arbico barrier.
00:47:56That's Keke Rosberg there,
00:47:58lapping back Martin at number 10,
00:48:01Jonathan Palmer.
00:48:03The English doctor, whose ram, the heart,
00:48:06is sponsored by the American Skol Bandit tobacco people.
00:48:10Rosberg, then, on his way in second place,
00:48:14but he's got a pit stop still to make,
00:48:16and Derek Warwick looking very good in third place
00:48:18after his stop.
00:48:20Fourth is Nelson Piquet.
00:48:22Fifth, Leo de Angelis.
00:48:2430 laps of the 70 left to run.
00:48:26And coming into the championship points battle now,
00:48:29in a splendid sixth place,
00:48:31the young German driver, Stefan Bellof,
00:48:34who's driving the non-turbocharged Cosworth-powered Tyrrell
00:48:37very, very quickly indeed.
00:48:39He is in sixth place now,
00:48:41ahead of Tao Fabi in Brabham number 2.
00:48:45Oh, and that's Winkelhock in trouble.
00:48:47Winkelhock going very, very slowly.
00:48:49Winkelhock, who's well done after that somewhat delayed
00:48:53tyre change stop,
00:48:55but he's come to a complete stop now,
00:48:58on the back straight,
00:48:59with the rest of the field funnelling by.
00:49:01The marshals run to his aid.
00:49:03So, after such a storming drive in the early stages,
00:49:07sadly it seems that the Germans' race is run,
00:49:10but much more action still to come.
00:49:12We'll return with more ESPN Autoracing 84
00:49:15after this short message.
00:49:23Back at the Belgian Grand Prix,
00:49:25as Keke Rosberg goes on his way.
00:49:27He is 19 seconds now behind race leader Alboreto in the Ferrari.
00:49:32Just under 5 seconds behind him,
00:49:34Derek Warwick in the Renault.
00:49:36But Rosberg has a pit stop still to come.
00:49:38Warwick has had his stop.
00:49:40Piquet is fourth in the Brabham.
00:49:41de Angelis fifth in the Lotus.
00:49:43Stefan Bellof, the young German, still sixth.
00:49:46There he was, a glimpse of him at the back of this trio.
00:49:50Patrick Tambay about to be lapped at the front.
00:49:52de Angelis in the middle.
00:49:54And sixth man, Stefan Bellof,
00:49:56without the benefit of turbocharged power
00:49:59in the back of the Tyrrell there.
00:50:01He's got a 3-litre un-turbocharged Cosworth V8.
00:50:06He's chasing a 1.5-litre turbocharged Renault engine
00:50:10in the back of the Lotus in front of him.
00:50:12The Renault engine has more power than his Cosworth,
00:50:15but Bellof is driving hard.
00:50:17And as they're coming up to lap,
00:50:19Tambay, Tambay holding his position
00:50:22as they come into the chicane.
00:50:25And Bellof is right up there behind Elio de Angelis.
00:50:31So it's a Renault being passed by a Renault Lotus
00:50:34with a Tyrrell Cosworth on their tail.
00:50:37Ahead of them, another car to be lapped.
00:50:41That's Jonathan Palmer in the Ram Heart once more.
00:50:47Palmer keeps over and Tambay goes through,
00:50:50but in fact de Angelis can't go through,
00:50:53nor can Bellof, and so Palmer is stuck in between them.
00:50:57Tambay now coming out of the chicane
00:50:59and Bellof is going alongside.
00:51:01Bellof goes one side, de Angelis goes the other.
00:51:03De Angelis goes through, Bellof switches back
00:51:07and snicks in behind the Lotus,
00:51:11leaving Jonathan Palmer very quickly behind.
00:51:14And Bellof is driving very hard indeed.
00:51:16Bellof attacking the Renault-powered Lotus
00:51:19as they go into the left-hander at Steriwacht.
00:51:25On his tail into Canal Turn.
00:51:28This is the battle now for fifth place
00:51:31and Stefan Bellof running in the championship points
00:51:34in the supposedly less competitive Tyrrell.
00:51:37He's very close as they come out of Canal Turn
00:51:39and meanwhile here now is Keke Rosberg's pit stop.
00:51:43Keke Rosberg in second place, comes in for fresh tyres
00:51:47and Derek Warwick is even now going past into second place
00:51:51but it looks a nice pit stop for Rosberg.
00:51:53Once again it's the right-hand rear wheel that is the slowest
00:51:57but that one is done too and he's away.
00:52:00Rosberg is away back into the race after 15.7 seconds
00:52:05and that will have dropped him to sixth place.
00:52:08So Rosberg goes from second place to sixth in his pit stop.
00:52:12Michele Alboreto's Ferrari still the leader.
00:52:15Derek Warwick now back into second place with the Renault.
00:52:19Nelson Piquet in third place with the Brabham.
00:52:22Elio de Angelis now up to fourth with the Lotus.
00:52:25Stefan Bellof still on his tail is now fifth
00:52:28and Keke Rosberg now sixth.
00:52:33Oh, and what's gone wrong there?
00:52:35That is Tao Fabi's car apparently on fire on the left of the picture.
00:52:40On the right, Andrea de Cesaris parking his Ligier
00:52:44with a very clouted left-hand rear wheel.
00:52:48That looks like the bit of arm co-barrier that de Cesaris has clouted.
00:52:53I think he's run wide coming out of that corner
00:52:56and in a quite separate incident as the marshals run across the road
00:52:59to tend to de Cesaris's car, in a quite separate incident
00:53:03it looks as though Tao Fabi's BMW engine has cried enough.
00:53:07Meanwhile, coming up to pass Ayrton Senna, the Brazilian,
00:53:11to lap him is the Ferrari of René Arnoux
00:53:15and Arnoux is now seventh, so Arnoux is staging a comeback.
00:53:20That's Alboreto in Ferrari 27, still comfortably in the lead,
00:53:24almost half a minute in fact, so comfortable is that lead
00:53:27over Derek Warwick after Warwick's pit stop.
00:53:30But René Arnoux, who had dropped a long way back after his pit stop,
00:53:35is now coming back into the picture with the other Ferrari
00:53:39and he is now in seventh place
00:53:43and indeed closing on Keke Rosberg who, after his pit stop, is sixth.
00:53:49Alboreto on his way through that corner that caught him out earlier
00:53:53but now he's determined to make no mistakes
00:53:56and it has to be said the pressure is not on him.
00:53:59Derek Warwick in second place, half a minute behind,
00:54:02not close enough to pose a threat to Michele Alboreto.
00:54:05There is Warwick indeed and Warwick himself driving a lonely race
00:54:10with Nelson Piquet a very long way adrift in third place.
00:54:14So now we're getting to the stage of the race where the drivers
00:54:17starting to get tired, the surface of the track starting to break up,
00:54:22their machinery perhaps starting to get a little tired and a little loose
00:54:26and it's now that they've got to drive consistently.
00:54:29They must make sure they make no mistakes at all.
00:54:32They must stay on that dark groove of tarmac where all the rubber is
00:54:36and not stray off it where the debris is
00:54:39and meanwhile pressure of every sort here
00:54:42because de Angelis and Beloff go through and behind them
00:54:46it's Rosberg and Arnoux absolutely tied together.
00:54:50So René Arnoux is right up with Keke Rosberg now.
00:54:54What a dramatic and exciting race Rosberg has had.
00:54:57He stormed all the way up to second place.
00:55:00He's now down in sixth place
00:55:02and he's got René Arnoux challenging him hard in the Ferrari.
00:55:07The first three may be spaced out but fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh
00:55:10de Angelis, Beloff, Rosberg and Arnoux are very, very close indeed
00:55:15and it's becoming a four-car battle for fourth place
00:55:18as they go down behind the pits down to the chicane.
00:55:21De Angelis breaks, Beloff breaks.
00:55:23Rosberg and Arnoux follow him through.
00:55:26Up over the bra, down towards Terlamen.
00:55:29Ooh, and Beloff on the grass there
00:55:32and another Tyrrell on the grass, on the dirt and parked
00:55:36and lacking a front wheel.
00:55:38That is the other Tyrrell, number three of Martin Brundle
00:55:41and the front left-hand wheels off that car.
00:55:44Brundle had just that lap, had his pit stop for fresh tyres
00:55:49and I wonder if perhaps the mechanic
00:55:52didn't get that front left-hand wheel on correctly
00:55:55before Brundle rushed out of the pits.
00:55:57There's his teammate, Beloff, number four
00:55:59and there is the battle between Rosberg and Arnoux
00:56:03with de Angelis and Beloff pulling away a little bit
00:56:06because it's now that Rosberg is driving defensively.
00:56:09He's trying to keep the door shut but the Ferrari is challenging.
00:56:12The Ferrari is through, going into Sterewacht.
00:56:15The Ferrari goes past Keke Rosberg on sheer power.
00:56:19Arnoux leaves his braking to the last moment.
00:56:22We see it again, he's not even right in the slipstream
00:56:25but he gets close enough to pull to one side
00:56:28and on sheer power dives down the inside of Rosberg
00:56:33into that corner.
00:56:35So Rosberg is demoted to seventh.
00:56:37Arnoux is sixth.
00:56:39How long is it going to take René Arnoux to set about
00:56:41Stefan Beloff? Not very long because he does Beloff
00:56:43down to the chicane.
00:56:44So Arnoux goes from seventh to sixth to fifth
00:56:48and now he's up with Elio de Angelis.
00:56:51Lots of action still to come.
00:56:53Join us for the finish of the Belgian Grand Prix
00:56:56after this short message.
00:57:04The closing stages of the Belgian Grand Prix,
00:57:06the battle for fourth place.
00:57:08De Angelis, Arnoux, Beloff and Rosberg
00:57:11almost tied together through the Jockenridge chicane.
00:57:14De Angelis is challenged by the Ferrari of René Arnoux
00:57:17and René Arnoux goes through as they go into the Jackie Iggs chicane.
00:57:20At the back of that queue, it's Keke Rosberg.
00:57:23Now what can Rosberg do about this?
00:57:25Rosberg is going to challenge Stefan Beloff.
00:57:28He's alongside Beloff.
00:57:30He's passed Beloff.
00:57:31He's chopping in front of Beloff.
00:57:33He's passed De Angelis in one fantastic manoeuvre.
00:57:37Keke Rosberg goes from seventh to fifth.
00:57:40Beloff tries to follow him through but can't
00:57:43and Rosberg sets off after Arnoux.
00:57:46We're going to see it again.
00:57:47Arnoux at the front, De Angelis behind him at the back.
00:57:49Rosberg goes to Beloff's right,
00:57:52chops across in front of him
00:57:54and then goes to De Angelis' left
00:57:56in one wonderful sweeping manoeuvre
00:57:58that takes him from seventh place to fifth.
00:58:02Now, Arnoux has been able to get away a little bit
00:58:05while all of that's been going on
00:58:07but I think Rosberg has the bit well and truly between his teeth.
00:58:11The order still Ferrari lead, Alboreto.
00:58:14Renault second, Derek Warwick.
00:58:17Brabham third, Nelson Piquet.
00:58:20And now Ferrari fourth, René Arnoux.
00:58:24Williams fifth, Keke Rosberg.
00:58:27Lotus sixth, Elio De Angelis.
00:58:30There is the leader, Michele Alboreto
00:58:32once again on his smooth, tidy, relaxed way
00:58:37right out at the front of a race which he's led from pole position
00:58:40and despite that one mistake
00:58:42he now has almost 39 seconds lead
00:58:45a further 20 seconds behind Warwick is Piquet
00:58:48so those three very spaced out
00:58:50but look, Arnoux's gap to Piquet is now only three seconds
00:58:54and Arnoux is closing, closing on Nelson Piquet
00:58:58for that third place.
00:59:00Arnoux's progress up the field has been absolutely meteoric
00:59:04just like Keke Rosberg
00:59:06we've had the excitement of seeing Arnoux
00:59:08charge up through the field
00:59:10making up places left and right
00:59:12and Nelson Piquet is the next man on René Arnoux's hit list.
00:59:20Through Terlano goes Alboreto
00:59:24and here is the battle
00:59:26and you don't need a stopwatch to see that gap now
00:59:28Nelson Piquet with just one car length or less
00:59:32a lot less because Arnoux looks at the outside
00:59:35the Brabham slides across ahead of him and shuts the door
00:59:38coming back towards the Lucien Bianchi corner
00:59:41this is where Piquet passed Arnoux
00:59:44what seems like an age ago, earlier in the race
00:59:48this time Arnoux it is who's putting the pressure on Piquet
00:59:51in this race of changing fortunes
00:59:53but remember that Piquet has done this whole race on one set of tyres
00:59:57whereas Arnoux has fresh rubber
01:00:00through the chicane at the back of the circuit
01:00:02up over the Bra
01:00:05Brabham leads Ferrari
01:00:07Ferrari nibbling one side and then the other
01:00:11down towards the bottom gear corner
01:00:13where Piquet threw away a place earlier
01:00:15when he slid off in front of Keke Rosberg
01:00:19and as they come up to that corner
01:00:21Arnoux's alongside
01:00:22underbraking
01:00:23Arnoux is passed
01:00:24René Arnoux goes easily past the Brabham
01:00:27as they accelerate away through the chicane
01:00:31after the Voldemort box
01:00:32down towards the Jacky Ickx chicane
01:00:34we see it once again
01:00:35Piquet unable to do anything about it
01:00:38as he takes his line
01:00:39underbraking for the corner
01:00:41Arnoux is up the inside
01:00:43driving tight into the apex
01:00:45and is away
01:00:47so all the pitstops have now as it were
01:00:49come out in the wash
01:00:51because we're back where we were before the stops started
01:00:54we've got a Ferrari first
01:00:56a Renault second
01:00:57and a Ferrari third
01:00:58Alboreto
01:00:59Warwick
01:01:00and Arnoux
01:01:01first, second and third
01:01:02but Nelson Piquet
01:01:03who's gone the whole distance on one set of tyres
01:01:06is fourth
01:01:07Elio de Angelis still there in fifth place
01:01:10and this is Beloff in the pits
01:01:11Stefan Beloff into the pits
01:01:13they're not changing tyres
01:01:15they're just topping up the water injection system
01:01:18which helps to ballast the car
01:01:20and it took less than eight seconds
01:01:237.99 seconds was the time
01:01:25that he was stationary
01:01:27he comes out again in seventh place
01:01:31seventh place was where he was when he came in
01:01:33he doesn't lose a place therefore
01:01:35but at the moment anyway
01:01:37Stefan Beloff out of the championship points
01:01:39and now
01:01:40another challenge for Nelson Piquet
01:01:42once again
01:01:43Piquet finds himself having to hold off
01:01:45the charging
01:01:47Peggy Rosberg
01:01:49down to that fateful corner
01:01:51once more
01:01:52and this time
01:01:54Piquet does it all correctly
01:01:56he keeps his fourth place
01:01:58but Rosberg in fifth place
01:02:00is really pressuring him
01:02:02and it may be now
01:02:04that Piquet is thinking he was wrong
01:02:06to try and do the whole race
01:02:07on one set of harder compound tyres
01:02:09his tyres must now be very tired indeed
01:02:12he's in the slipstream
01:02:13he's going to get a lovely tow
01:02:15from the Brabham
01:02:16sucking him along in the air behind
01:02:17he's up the inside
01:02:19he's taking that tight line
01:02:21Piquet moves across
01:02:22to try and shut the door
01:02:23but too late
01:02:24and on goes
01:02:26Peggy Rosberg into fourth place
01:02:28we see it again
01:02:30an absolutely traditional manoeuvre
01:02:32get alongside
01:02:33have the inside line
01:02:34and when the brakes go on
01:02:36you stay your ground
01:02:38and take the apex ahead
01:02:40and now yet more drama
01:02:42because René Arnoux
01:02:44has lost that hard one third place
01:02:46he's spun the Ferrari
01:02:48we're told
01:02:50away out of our sight
01:02:51somewhere around the back of the circuit
01:02:53Ferrari number 28 has spun
01:02:55he's lost two places
01:02:57so as we watch
01:02:58Michele Alvareto's Ferrari
01:03:00squeezing past
01:03:01Elio De Angelis' Lotus to lap it
01:03:03the order is now
01:03:05Alvareto's Ferrari first
01:03:07Moritz Renault second
01:03:09Peggy Rosberg third
01:03:11in the Williams Honda
01:03:15Piquet is fourth
01:03:17René Arnoux down in fifth place
01:03:20and Elio De Angelis
01:03:22who is in the picture now
01:03:24having just been lapped by the leader
01:03:26Elio De Angelis is second
01:03:28so in these closing stages
01:03:30it was going to be a Ferrari one and three
01:03:32we thought
01:03:33but it's now Ferraris one and five
01:03:35Renault two
01:03:37Williams three
01:03:38and Brabham four
01:03:40and the Belgian Grand Prix
01:03:42on this tight, bumpy little Zolder circuit
01:03:44has as so often
01:03:46proved to be a race of attrition
01:03:48a race of changing fortunes
01:03:50we've only got still running
01:03:52nine cars
01:03:54there are the first six
01:03:55Elio De Angelis lapped
01:03:56oh and that's Tambay spinning off
01:03:58another spin
01:04:00Tambay this time
01:04:01Patrick Tambay
01:04:02we wondered for a moment
01:04:03whether it was second man
01:04:04Derek Warwick
01:04:05in Renault number 16
01:04:06it's not
01:04:07it's Tambay in Renault number 15
01:04:09he is well down near the tail of the field
01:04:11and that's Nelson Piquet
01:04:13Nelson Piquet has come to a halt
01:04:15he's out of the car
01:04:16Nelson Piquet in fourth place
01:04:18with a comprehensively blown up engine
01:04:21so
01:04:22with just a couple of laps to go
01:04:24Nelson Piquet
01:04:25again is out of the race
01:04:27Nelson Piquet again
01:04:29loses all chance of scoring points
01:04:31and that Brabham must be
01:04:33very comprehensively damaged
01:04:35by the engine blow up
01:04:36because it's immovable
01:04:37normally the driver
01:04:39will get the car off the track
01:04:41as far as he can
01:04:42but as Nelson Piquet
01:04:43watches from the Armco barrier
01:04:45and as Michele Alboreto
01:04:47reels off his penultimate lap
01:04:49the Brabham is out of the race
01:04:51so
01:04:52up to fourth now
01:04:54comes René Arnoux
01:04:55and this is the last lap now
01:04:58the 70th lap
01:04:59for Michele Alboreto
01:05:00he started from pole position
01:05:03he made a perfect pit stop
01:05:05and now
01:05:06as the man with the chequered flag gets ready
01:05:08out of canal turn
01:05:10and on towards Lucien Bianchi-Baft
01:05:13goes Ferrari number 27
01:05:16no doubt
01:05:17watching on television
01:05:18at this moment
01:05:19in Italy
01:05:20will be
01:05:2184 year old Enzo Ferrari
01:05:23and he will be remembering
01:05:25no doubt
01:05:26two years ago
01:05:27when it was Gilles Villeneuve
01:05:28driving Ferrari number 27
01:05:30round this circuit
01:05:31for the last time
01:05:33still
01:05:34Nelson Piquet stands
01:05:35furious
01:05:36and disappointed
01:05:37by his smoking Brabham
01:05:39and still
01:05:40smoothly on his way
01:05:42goes Michele Alboreto
01:05:44to score his third Grand Prix win
01:05:46his first Grand Prix win
01:05:48since joining the Ferrari team
01:05:50just this season
01:05:51into the final
01:05:52Jacquet Chicane
01:05:54the crowd starting to cheer
01:05:56as he comes into sight
01:05:58on the start finish line
01:06:00the Ferrari takes the chequered flag
01:06:02Michele Alboreto wins
01:06:04the opening European race
01:06:06of the 1984 World Championship
01:06:08scores nine points
01:06:10to break Ferrari's duck for the year
01:06:13and here comes now
01:06:14Derek Warwick
01:06:15he nearly won in Brazil
01:06:17he was third
01:06:18three weeks ago
01:06:19in South Africa
01:06:20he's going to be second
01:06:21here in Belgium
01:06:23and Keke Rosberg is stopping
01:06:25Keke Rosberg
01:06:27who should be coming home
01:06:28to finish third
01:06:29on this final lap
01:06:30has parked
01:06:31the Williams Honda
01:06:32out on the back of the circuit
01:06:34surely he must be out of petrol
01:06:36that charging drive
01:06:38up through the field
01:06:39has been all for nothing
01:06:40but on distance covered
01:06:42he will get fourth place
01:06:44Michele Alboreto
01:06:45the first Italian
01:06:46to win a Grand Prix
01:06:47in a Ferrari
01:06:48for 17 years
01:06:50Derek Warwick
01:06:51his best ever performance
01:06:52second
01:06:53René Arnoux third
01:06:54Rosberg a disappointed fourth
01:06:56De Angelis fifth for Lotus
01:06:58and Beloff's first championship points
01:07:00in sixth place
01:07:01stay with us
01:07:02for a word with the winner
01:07:09Michele Alboreto
01:07:10safely at home
01:07:11in the Ferrari motorhome
01:07:12Michele
01:07:13your third Grand Prix victory
01:07:15a flag to flag lead
01:07:16throughout the whole race
01:07:18what was your toughest
01:07:19part of this event?
01:07:21easier than Kailani
01:07:23yes much easier
01:07:24that's for sure
01:07:25because my car was perfect
01:07:26from the start to the finish
01:07:28I had absolutely no problem
01:07:30and everything is getting better
01:07:32you got a fantastic start
01:07:34off the line
01:07:35leading everyone
01:07:36into the first corner
01:07:37I had a little bit worse pain
01:07:38but after no problem
01:07:39in second and third gear
01:07:40I go out
01:07:41Michele
01:07:42there was one thing
01:07:43that was captured
01:07:44on Belgian television here
01:07:45with you going wide
01:07:46on one particular corner
01:07:47what happened there?
01:07:48were the tires going off
01:07:49at that point?
01:07:50yes I finished
01:07:51my rear tires
01:07:52and that's just
01:07:53one or two laps
01:07:54before my pit stop
01:07:55after this problem
01:07:56I had no problem
01:07:57at all
01:07:58when I changed tires
01:07:59my car came back
01:08:00very good
01:08:01and a fantastic pit stop
01:08:02it was
01:08:0311.3 seconds
01:08:04you must be very happy
01:08:05with your crew
01:08:06I have to say
01:08:07thank you
01:08:08many times
01:08:09because I have a part
01:08:10of my victory
01:08:11I have a part
01:08:12of my victory
01:08:13I have a part
01:08:14of my victory
01:08:15I have a part
01:08:16of my victory
01:08:17I have a part
01:08:18of my victory
01:08:19I have a part
01:08:20of my victory
01:08:21I have a part
01:08:22of my victory
01:08:23I have a part
01:08:24of my victory
01:08:25I have a part
01:08:26of my victory
01:08:27I have a part
01:08:28of my victory
01:08:29I have a part
01:08:30of my victory
01:08:31I have a part
01:08:32of my victory
01:08:33I have a part
01:08:34of my victory
01:08:35I have a part
01:08:36of my victory
01:08:37I have a part
01:08:38of my victory
01:08:39I have a part
01:08:40of my victory
01:08:41I have a part
01:08:42of my victory
01:08:43I have a part
01:08:44of my victory
01:08:45I have a part
01:08:46of my victory
01:08:47I have a part
01:08:48of my victory
01:08:49I have a part
01:08:50of my victory
01:08:51I have a part
01:08:52of my victory
01:08:53I have a part
01:08:54of my victory
01:08:55I have a part
01:08:56of my victory
01:08:57I have a part
01:08:58of my victory
01:08:59I have a part
01:09:00of my victory
01:09:01I have a part
01:09:02of my victory
01:09:03I have a part
01:09:04of my victory
01:09:05I have a part
01:09:06of my victory
01:09:07I have a part
01:09:08of my victory