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00:00Welcome to Brands Hatch. In the county of Kent, in the country of England, the Formula One Circus are back in Europe once again, after their North American sojourn.
00:12Behind us, the Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal, the controversial Round the Houses races in Detroit and Dallas, and now we've got a real traditional road circuit in the traditional home of Grand Prix racing, Great Britain.
00:27The British Grand Prix alternates each year between Silverstone and Brands Hatch. Last time the Formula One cars were here, in Kent, was for the extra-European Grand Prix last September.
00:39But this year, it's Brands Hatch's turn to have the British Grand Prix, and an enormous crowd has turned out for this tenth round of the sixteen-round World Championship.
00:49Pole position has gone to the man who so recently won two races on the trot, Nelson Piquet. A blistering lap, set at the very beginning of the Saturday afternoon session, with an average speed of over 132 miles an hour.
01:02But the current championship leader, Alain Prost with the McLaren, was almost as quick, and will join Nelson Piquet on the front row of the grid.
01:12Alain Prost's own teammate, Niki Lauda, a man who's won this race twice at Brands Hatch already. He's on the inside of the second row, with a time fractionally slower than his own teammate, and he's currently lying second in the championship.
01:27A man who's turned in a tremendously consistent performance all year, Elio de Angelis. He's finished every single Grand Prix, and scored championship points in all but one of them.
01:38Behind his Lotus, fifth quickest, Keke Rosberg, the sensational winner of the Dallas Grand Prix just two weeks ago, but still not particularly happy with the handling of the Williams Honda, and in this morning's warm-up session, he was slowest of all.
01:54Eric Warrick also has had a troublesome practice with the Renault. He crashed in yesterday's practice, but he was going better this morning, and he's sixth quickest, and very anxious to go well on his home ground, in front of this huge home crowd.
02:09It's hot and muggy, and the crowds have been pouring in here since half past six this morning, when the gates opened. Official estimates, 110,000 spectators. That's a record crowd.
02:20And we've got the green flag now for 27 starters. All sorts of controversy been going on here, surrounding the Tyrrell team, for alleged infringements of the Formula One regulations in the North American races.
02:33The Tyrrell cars are unlikely to be allowed to score championship points, and that has allowed a 27th starter, Joe Gartner, in the Osella, to start from the back.
02:43So now the cars on this final warm-up lap. It's, as I say, a warm and muggy day, and on this bumpy, twisty, and demanding circuit, the choice of tyres is going to be very, very important.
02:56The team managers must ensure that they've chosen a compound soft enough for maximum grip, but a rubber compound hard enough to go the full distance on this demanding track.
03:07Everybody weaving now to get some heat into their tyres. That's Joe Gartner at the back in the blue and red Osella, and now the entire 27 car field on this undulating and slightly curving start-finish straight here at Brands Hatch.
03:2275 laps ahead of them. Nelson Piquet at the front on the left of the picture. On the right, in the red and white McLaren No. 7, Alain Prost. Behind them, Lauda and de Angelis.
03:34The traditional start will be the red light. There it is, followed by the green. The green, and the field gets away. Ayrton Senna moves very quickly further down the grid, but it's Alain Prost who gets away first before Nelson Piquet charges to the front.
03:50And it's Piquet who's leading down the steep dive from Paddock Bend, up the hill now to Druids. Piquet, Prost, Elio de Angelis has made an excellent start, and he's up into third place. Nigel Mansell up there with them, moving ahead.
04:04Lauda, it is, who's fourth as they go down the hill. The whole field pouring. Oh, and that is Patrese, almost spinning, and a tremendous chain reaction there.
04:14Somebody has crashed! There are tyres and wheels everywhere, yellow flags, but that's Philippe Alliot's Ram coming to a halt. That, I think, was that enormously airborne car that we saw there.
04:27It was Patrese who started. There you see it. Patrese goes sideways. Cheever tries to avoid him. Ghinzani hits Cheever. Alliot goes all the way up the barrier, almost over Cheever's head. Wheels and tyres and uprights fly, but meanwhile, ahead of all the drama, Nelson Piquet leads.
04:45Prost, de Angelis, Lauda, Derek Warwick, Keke Rosberg is up there too. Then it's Mansell and the rest of the field pouring through the left-hander at Stirling's Bend, and on down to complete this first lap, and over the start line and down into Paddock Bend.
05:02The order is the same with Warwick, Rosberg, the two Ferraris. Oh, and that's Senna forcing his way through on the inside. Ayrton Senna, who made that very aggressive start, then seemed to slip back a little bit, but Ayrton Senna now on Alboreto's tail as they go round Druids.
05:20That's the remains of Eddie Cheever's car, and there is Stefan Johansson in one of the Tyrrells with, I think, a flat rear tyre as well as a damaged rear wing. They've got fire extinguisher fluid on Joe Gartner's Azella, which also came to grief as part of that same accident.
05:41The car in the tyres, nobody hurt, we're told, but out of the race. Gartner, Cheever, Johansson, Philippe Alliot, and meanwhile the leaders on their second lap. Up out of Dingledale, up through Dingledale Corner, on towards Stirling's Bend, and Nelson Piquet trying to make the break for Manon Prost, but he's not getting away from him.
06:04Prost on the kerb, Prost using all the road, and we've got a new third man because de Angelis has been passed by Niki Lauda, so it's Brabham, McLaren, McLaren, and Nelson Piquet knows that he's got to make an early break if he's going to shake off the attentions of these McLarens.
06:20Down the steep plunge into Paddock Bend, Prost and Lauda follow, Derek Warwick is also past Emilio de Angelis now, so Warwick up to fourth place with the Renault, up to Druids now, steeply up that hill, Lauda in third place. Warwick and de Angelis fighting for fourth, already in bottom bend, they've cleared away all the mess of that accident, and Niki Lauda is in a strong third place, but it's Prost who's putting the pressure now on Nelson Piquet.
06:47Piquet, who won in Canada, who won in Detroit, who was out of luck again in Dallas, so he's got just 18 points so far this year from those two wins, he needs more points now that we're well in the second half of the season, if he's to retain any sort of hope of repeating his World Championship title, and Alain Prost, who so nearly got the World Championship last year, who's got a tremendous lead this year, he is really challenging.
07:15He's closer and closer all the time to Nelson Piquet, under the bridge they come, down into clearways, Piquet, Prost, Lauda, then Warwick, with de Angelis slipping back into the clutches of Keke Rosberg, on their fourth lap down the steep hill through Paddock Bend.
07:38Under the bridge, up to Druids, the slowest corner on the circuit, still taken at 85-90mph, down the hill, across the road, fourth gear, through Graham Hill Bend, the short straight, up to the tight Surtees corner, an uphill left-hander which goes on and on and on forever, number seven is Alain Prost, he's in second place and he's challenging.
08:02Now they go down that long back section down Pilgrim's Drop, up to Hawthorne Bend, a fourth gear corner, although if they're feeling really brave in qualifying they sometimes get through it in fifth, but with a full fuel load now it'll certainly be fourth.
08:18Then Westfield, where Johnny Ciacotto, the Venezuelan, came to grief in the first day of practice, the Toleman driver now in hospital with leg injuries, and Piquet now through the left-hander of Stirling's, and Lauda is closing as well now, these two McLarens are really setting their sights on putting the pressure on the Brabham of Nelson Piquet.
08:43Over the start-finish line, the gap closer all the time, Lauda bounding over the bumps in pursuit and we see the high shot as they come down Paddock, up the hill, into Druids, Piquet taking a tight line but look how close Prost is, Prost within a length there under braking.
08:59Down the hill now, into Graham Hill Bend once more, Lauda perhaps a little bit further back but Derek Warwick in fourth place is now a long way down, Elio de Angelis still is fifth, Keke Rosberg dropping away and it's still this wonderful three-car battle for the lead.
09:17Brabham, McLaren, McLaren. And of the nine races we've had so far this year, these three drivers have between them won seven of them, there's Warwick in fourth place, de Angelis in fifth place, the gap behind them, the story is told, Keke Rosberg in the pits, an early stop for Keke Rosberg, there's some problem at the back, they're working I think on the pipe that goes into the intercooler there on the right-hand side of the car,
09:43it's very, very hot indeed, but some sort of problem with that pipe to the intercooler of the turbocharger for Keke Rosberg, so the Dallas winner already in trouble and look how close Alain Prost is now.
09:56Alain Prost making a little challenge there briefly before he gets back into the slipstream and has to take the line behind the Brabham as they go up to Druids once more, Nelson Piquet moves across to the right, shuts the door and we've got the new sixth man replacing Keke Rosberg, Ayrton Senna, the young Brazilian who has been charging from the start,
10:19who was fastest of all in the very first practice session on Friday morning, the only tailman in the race of course because of Ciacotto non-starting, and Senna going very strongly this early in the race in sixth place, but here's the leading trio up to Hawthorne's.
10:35On to Westfields, now through Westfields and on towards Dingledale, down and up once more, the top of this hill, the third gear right-hander of Dingledale, followed by the third gear left at Stirling's, there it is, and Piquet, Prost and Lauda go through just like that, these three now equidistant, Prost has slipped back just a little bit as they go into clearways.
11:04But Piquet can't relax, he wanted to make an early break to shake off these ever-present McLarens, he hasn't been able to do it, and Prost is sitting there waiting for a chance to get close and to pulse.
11:19Up to Druids once more, this time Prost not close enough to challenge, about two lengths between it as they go out and down Graham Hill Bend, Lauda following in third place, but as they come up to Surtees, Prost is close again.
11:42The Marlborough McLarens not wearing the name of their cigarette sponsor in deference to television rules in Britain, and while the first three go on their way, Rosberg still in the pits, they're still working on that turbocharger pipe, the green and white uniforms of the Williams mechanics much in evidence, here's the fourth man, Derek Warwick going strongly on his home ground,
12:07but now Elio de Angelis is closing again, Elio de Angelis closing back up to Derek Warwick, and Ayrton Senna still going well in sixth place, and still Nelson Piquet unable to relax for an instant.
12:23The constant corners, the curbs, the ups and downs of Brands Hatch, oh and Prost has a little look at the inside going up to Druids that time, but Piquet was there shutting the door and Prost had to hang back.
12:36Through Graham Hill Bend once more, along past the crowds on South Bank, into Surtees, that long left-hander, in third gear, Piquet's hands twitching on the wheel, Prost tucked into the slipstream.
12:51This is the fastest part now, 190 miles an hour down this dip before they dab the brakes, take fourth for Hawthorne Bend, and this time Niki Lauda has slipped back a little bit and he's just watching developments, letting his own teammate sort out the leader Brabham.
13:08But if Piquet can keep the door shut, if Piquet persists in refusing to make any mistake or give Alain Prost any opportunity, then the Frenchman is going to find it difficult to find a way past the Brabham.
13:21Prost as close as he could possibly be under the bridge, down into clearways, little twitch from the back end of the Brabham there, oh and Prost is lined up, Prost is very close inside, Prost trying to force his way through that first apex onto the long straight, but at Paddock, does Prost do it?
13:40No, he doesn't, Prost doing everything possible to get through Nelson Piquet, but Piquet is just not having it. Prost attacks once more, this is magnificent Grand Prix racing between the two men, probably, who are currently the fastest men in Grand Prix racing, and certainly the two cars that have shown themselves to be the pacemakers all year, the Brabham and the McLaren.
14:03But once more, Prost is held off, down the fast section of Pilgrim's Drop, up again into Hawthorns, Prost not quite close enough that time to find a way past.
14:17Now he has a little look on the inside at Westfields, that's a very, very tight place to get through, Prost can't do it, he's trying to worry Nelson Piquet into a mistake, but he himself clips the kerb there, a little twitch from the McLaren, and look how close Niki Lauda has caught up, because Piquet is now driving defensively, Piquet is keeping the door shut, perhaps his lap times have increased a little bit, Lauda is right up there to attack now.
14:42This is Clearways, Clark Curve, the right-hand kink that follows it onto the straights, and Prost tucked in behind, Lauda is closing, is Prost close enough in the slipstream to dart out, he does dart out, he goes through, underbraking, Prost forces his way through the inside at Paddock Bend, up the hill, and Lauda's going through too, ooh, and they nearly touch, Piquet and Lauda nearly touch their underbraking,
15:08but Nelson Piquet had to conceive that Niki Lauda had the corner, this is Prost going through again at Paddock, over the yellow line, Piquet simply has to let him go, and Lauda of course was able to take advantage of Piquet being briefly off-line to follow Prost through,
15:26Prost glancing in his mirror there and noting that the pursuit is coming not from the man he's just overtaken, but from his own teammate Niki Lauda, and already they're up to Westfields, oh, and that's Jonathan Palmer who walks away, limps away in fact, from the ram which is parked with only three wheels on it,
15:48having clouted the barrier at clearways very hard indeed, I think that car's actually more than smoking, I think it might even just be starting to burn, but you see, ooh, it is very definitely burning, yes, the ram heart of Jonathan Palmer on fire now, just on the outside of clearways, the marshals quickly onto it with the fire extinguisher,
16:12but Palmer had gone straight on into the barriers at the outside of clearways, and he is conclusively out of the race, and they're stopping the race, that's the red flag, the red flag at the start-finish line, so the officials have decided, no doubt because of the wreckage from Jonathan Palmer's car,
16:36the car very close to the edge of the track and the marshals have been working there putting the fire out, and the course car comes out, the red flag is out, and the race is going to be stopped, Alain Prost in the lead, Niki Lauda in second place, and interestingly, there is the man who was third, Nelson Piquet, who has just come into the pits,
17:01Nelson Piquet had already decided to peel off into the pit lane, having lost the lead, having lost second place, Nelson Piquet had decided to come in for no doubt a fresh set of tyres, and while Piquet was in the pit lane, at the end of his twelfth lap, out came the red flag to stop the race,
17:23and now we've got the two McLaren drivers parking their cars, Prost going straight to pole position, Niki Lauda behind him, there is the wreckage of the Ram Heart, and this has been a most unfortunate start to the British Grand Prix, particularly for John McDonald, the boss of the Ram team,
17:45because the car that you saw flying in the air on this corner, Graham Hill Bend at the start, was the other Ram, Philippe Alliot, there you see the positions at the end of eleven laps, because the rules will say that if the red flag came out at the end of twelve laps, they will take the positions at the end of the previous lap, before the red flag came out,
18:08so Nelson Piquet, despite the fact that he'd just lost the lead, he'd just lost second place, and he'd come into the pits, at the restart, Nelson Piquet will take pole position, by virtue of the fact that he was the leader.
18:21So there's the new grid, Piquet and Prost, Lauda and Warwick, de Angelis and Senna, Alboreto and Tambay, Mansell and Bootson, de Cesaris, Arnoux, Lafitte, Sciurra, Patrese, who recovered from that first lap moment, Ghinzani, Beloff and Hainault, Rottengatter, and Rosberg, who did rejoin after that long pit stop,
18:41but of course we've got only twenty-three cars on the grid of the twenty-seven starters, because already we've lost four cars due to accidents.
18:54So this is the second warm-up lap, and we have word from the Williams pit, Keke Rosberg in fact will not take the restart, so twenty-two cars on the grid, coming round, there's a Ferrari fan, there's a Renault fan, so the Brabham and McLaren battle, not important for those two, they want to see Ferraris and Renaults at the front,
19:19but it is a Brabham on pole, a McLaren, a McLaren and a Renault, the front four cars, Ayrton Senna there in sixth place behind de Angelis, there's the red light, the second start, there is the green, they get away, oh and this time Prost does make a good start, this time Prost is determined to do it all right, and it's Alain Prost closing ahead, Alain Prost goes ahead, it's Prost from Piquet, from Lauda, then the two Renaults, Patrick Tambay's made a good start also,
19:48up into Druids, the two Renaults side-by-side at Druids, Warwick and Tambay, then the two Lotuses side-by-side, then one of the Ferraris, that I think was Alboreto, but Alain Prost, indignant no doubt that his first efforts at overtaking Nelson Piquet were all in vain, has now done it again, and he is the leader, Prost from Piquet, from Lauda, from Warwick and Tambay,
20:15then it's de Angelis, Mansell being challenged by Alboreto, Alboreto goes by, Mansell trying to shut the door as they go through Westfields, on down towards Dingledale, and then Stirling's Bend, and Prost is getting away, this is Dingledale, corner, the two Renaults following through, but at Stirling's it's Prost, Piquet and Lauda, one, two, three,
20:42and the battle is on again, but it's a McLaren, Bramham, McLaren sandwich, on the brakes, through Clearways, on to Clark Curve, Renaults still fourth and fifth, there they are, over the start-finish line, Prost getting away before Piquet closes just a shade under braking, Lauda is there twitching across the apex,
21:06ooh, and Prost locks a wheel there, Prost on the absolute limit under braking for Druids, out of Druids, has Prost flatted a front tyre we wonder, certainly he locked a wheel very clearly there, but on to the bottom straight, on to Surtees, and the two Renaults, the Lotus, the Ferrari, and Ayrton Senna challenging Alboreto, Ayrton Senna forcing his way through,
21:31so it's Senna seventh, de Angelis sixth, Tambay fifth, Warwick fourth, that's the two Renaults, and Lauda, Piquet and Prost still the leading trio, there's Senna ahead of Alboreto, with de Cesaris following through, ahead now of Nigel Mansell who's slipped back a lot of places, having made a good start, but the trio of leaders already at Stirling's Bend,
21:58and Warwick and Tambay a lot closer this time, there's de Angelis, there's Senna, there's Alboreto, de Cesaris, Boots and Zaros is next up, and Arnoux challenging Nigel Mansell there, so really Arnoux is moving up,
22:13Alboreto also well up, the Ferrari is showing better in this second part, but it's the McLarens that are at the front, and it's Nelson Piquet who is trying to wriggle out of this awkward position he finds himself in, where he is sandwiched by the two red and white cars,
22:32the two Renaults are still up there with them, so the leaders not getting away from the Renaults with anything like the rapidity that they did before the race was stopped, Elio de Angelis still there, Ayrton Senna closing on de Angelis, so Senna moving up well, and Alboreto now has been passed by the Ligier of Andrea de Cesaris.
22:54Battles developing all the way down the field, Brands Hatch always shows us splendid battles, this very characteristic circuit with its corners, its bumps, its cambers, its ups and downs, and down and up Dingledell goes Alain Prost the leader, Piquet and Lauda slipping away just a little bit, Prost is building this lead now, settling into the groove,
23:22whereas Piquet looking just slightly ragged at Stirlings, using all the kerb, Prost at clearways, on to Clarke Curve, over the undulating start-finish straight, Piquet, Lauda, Warwick and Tambay follow, and already the leader number seven at Druids.
23:48Out of Druids, down to Graham Hill Bend, Warwick perhaps closing on Lauda a little, is Warwick closing on this leading battle? Tambay staying with Warwick, so it's McLaren, Brabham and Renault up at the front now.
24:07Piquet incidentally driving the only Brabham left in the race, because Brabham number two, driven by Tao Farby today, has already retired with electrical problems.
24:17There's Warwick in fourth place, Tambay fifth, and that's the other Williams in the pits, that's Jacques Lafitte's car, Jacques Lafitte with the green crash helmet and the blue overalls on the left of the picture, off comes the crash helmet, he is out of the race, and telltale smoke from the back of the car, so that looked like some terminal mechanical problem.
24:41And still Piquet has this task of trying to close on Prost, and still he seems to be slipping back into the clutches of Niki Lauda.
24:53Piquet of course having started the race on fresh tyres, and we know that he went for a slightly harder compound of tyre than he started the original race with, having found that his first set wore out in just a dozen laps, so Piquet's car perhaps not quite as well balanced now for this circuit as either of the McLarens.
25:15The McLarens incidentally were first and second quickest this morning in the morning warm-up, which is always a very good indicator.
25:21There you see the gaps, that order of course is on cumulative time, so it shows Warwick a whole 16 seconds behind Niki Lauda, which is his position when you add the two sections of the race together.
25:34But in fact Warwick is a lot closer to Niki Lauda now, there goes Prost, Piquet and Lauda, and there you saw a glimpse of Derek Warwick in fourth place, certainly very much closer to the leaders than he was when the race was stopped at the end of 11 laps.
25:49Now on the top straight, McLaren, Brabham, McLaren, Renault and Renault, Warwick following the leading trio over the bumps on the start-finish straight.
26:04There is Derek Warwick in Paddock Bend, using all the road, just kissing the kerb on the outside, now into Druids, that tight second gear right-hand hairpin, accelerating hard down the road, put it across to the left for Graham Hill Bend.
26:21Now on to Surtees along Cooper Straight, but of course it's not a straight like so many of the straights at Brands Hatch, it's actually a long kerb.
26:31Now Derek Warwick is going down Pilgrim's Drop up to 192mph, the Renaults were touching during practice, and they'll be going almost as quickly as that in the race, despite the heavier fuel load.
26:44Tambay follows, you can always tell the Renaults apart because Warwick's car has blue flashes on the rear wing, Tambay's has red.
26:55The blue number 16 and the red number 15 on the two cars also identifying Warwick from Tambay, but that is Piquet, and there is Lowder, and Prost creeping ever so slightly away.
27:12That's Lowder now through Paddock Bend, up once more to Druids, on with the lock, you can see his gloves working away on the top of the steering wheel.
27:28And Lowder doesn't seem to be making any impression at this stage now to Nelson Piquet, that gap has remained constant for three or four laps now, but Prost is definitely increasing the gap between himself and Nelson Piquet.
27:45Cumulatively we've now had 20 laps, and although you see Patrick Tambay following Derek Warwick in 5th place on the road, cumulatively in 5th place we've still got Elio de Angelis, with Patrick Tambay 6th, Ayrton Senna 7th, Michele Alboreto 8th, and Andrea de Cesaris 9th, just ahead of 10th man René Arnoux.
28:09But there is de Cesaris, and as you see on the road, he is ahead of both Alboreto and René Arnoux, and I don't think either of them like it very much, the two Ferraris absolutely clambering all over the back of the Ligier, but as we've seen so often, Andrea de Cesaris is a very hard man to pass.
28:28De Cesaris in the Renault-powered Ligier, holding off Alboreto and René Arnoux.
28:36So well, there's a wonderful three-car battle at the front, this is a three-car battle out of the championship points, but nonetheless hot for that.
28:45And the two Ferraris close, and Arnoux is attacking Alboreto, Arnoux goes past Alboreto, ooh, and they were so close there!
28:53The two Ferraris almost touching wheels, and I'm sure that Enzo Ferrari, the old man in Maranello who always follows the Grands Prix on television, as they come through live, I'm sure his heart was in his old mouth there,
29:09as he saw his two cars almost touch wheels at the treacherous 130mph downhill paddock bend.
29:17While all that was going on, de Cesaris has a brief breathing space, he looks in his mirror briefly there to see where have the Ferraris gone, he's now got René Arnoux behind him,
29:26Alboreto has given best to Arnoux, and now Arnoux is going to start to tackle de Cesaris, two very hard men here.
29:35René Arnoux, oh so determined, that wonderful race he had the other week in Dallas, where he came through to second place.
29:44De Cesaris, who's not having a particularly happy first season with the French Ligier team, having driven for Alfa Romeo last year, and having driven originally for McLaren in Formula 1, Arnoux and Alboreto following on.
30:01And we've got trouble for Nigel Mansell, Nigel Mansell slowing on the bottom straight, yes, and Mansell has pulled off.
30:10He's slipped down and down to 11th place, and I think I could hear him having trouble selecting a gear as he came past on the top straight underneath our box that time.
30:23And I would guess that it's a repeat of the gearbox problems that has so often plagued the Lotuses.
30:31And this is another problem, Thierry Bootsen, the Belgian, getting out of the BMW powered Arrows, he's parked it by the side of the road on the fast back section.
30:41Off come the gloves, brief look over the shoulder, and the Belgian driver walks away, and Niki Lauda does it, Niki Lauda takes second place.
30:51Niki Lauda finally has taken that second place, but Piquet's challenging back, Piquet comes back and they're side by side at Druids.
30:59Oh, so close, but Nelson Piquet has to give best, Niki Lauda is through, it's McLaren's first and second.
31:08And Elio De Angelis, meanwhile, is right up with Patrick Tambay once more, he's in front of him on aggregate, but he's behind him on the road, but Elio De Angelis challenging Patrick Tambay.
31:19And now we've got the leaders in among the back markers, and that could well make quite a difference to this race.
31:27Alain Prost in the lead, Niki Lauda now past Nelson Piquet's Brabham at last into second place, it's McLaren first, McLaren second, Brabham third, Renault fourth,
31:41and on aggregate it's Lotus fifth, and that Lotus, the sole surviving Lotus in this race now, in the hands of Elio De Angelis,
31:51giving strong pressure to Patrick Tambay's Renault, which is still in front of it on the road.
31:59Now, can Lauda shake off Nelson Piquet, can Nelson Piquet fight back?
32:04Well, there is Lauda, and the road behind him does look quite a bit more empty, so now that Lauda is by, he is pulling away.
32:12There you see the gap at Druids, just a lap after it all happened, and Nelson Piquet several lengths behind as they go down to Graham Hill Bend and along the Cooper Strait.
32:22But the back markers could play a part in front of Niki Lauda now, that is the Ligier of François Eno, and Lauda has to swerve to get by.
32:34Lauda swerving round, there he comes, having just passed Eno, Prost quite some way ahead, Prost has passed these two back markers in front of Niki Lauda.
32:46Now is Riccardo Patrese, the man whose sideways moment started that chain reaction on the first lap of the first section of the race.
32:55Patrese goes through, there is Lauda, and now Piquet is also past François Eno's Ligier, and in these back markers, Piquet could find an opportunity to get back.
33:09There you see the aggregate order with de Angelis fifth, Ayrton Senna now sixth, 52 seconds behind the leader, but 7 seconds is almost exactly the gap between leader Prost and second man Niki Lauda, and Nelson Piquet is clinging on.
33:27That's de Angelis, with Ayrton Senna behind him, Patrick Tambay ahead of him, but on aggregate, Tambay is behind both de Angelis and Senna.
33:37Tambay going much more quickly now than he was in the first section, but de Angelis closing, and Ayrton Senna going, I would guess, quicker than both of them.
33:47Senna, who was the hero of that very wet Monaco Grand Prix when he finished second, and many say had the race continued he could have won, but Tambay with de Angelis close on his tail,
34:01de Angelis closes right up under braking for Druids, away from Druids, away from that battle in fact, because here are the two Ferraris still stuck behind de Cesaris, and that's Arnoux trying to squeeze through,
34:13oh, and that was somebody coming out of the pits there, that was a very crowded moment indeed, Marc Surer in the arrows coming out of the pits just at the moment that René Arnoux made his desperate attempt to go inside de Cesaris at Paddock Bend,
34:29and poor René Arnoux just had to come off the power there, otherwise he would have collected not only de Cesaris, but also Marc Surer, and so now he's got to do it all again.
34:40De Cesaris has pulled away just briefly, Alboreto is tucked in behind Arnoux, and still these two Ferraris unable to find a way past the Ligier-Renault of Andrea de Cesaris.
34:52The Italian in the French car, the Frenchman in the Italian car, the Italian in the Italian car, they're all out of the points at the moment, but they're providing one of the best battles on the circuit,
35:04and in the pits now, we've got Patrick Tambay, it's a tyre stop for one of the Renaults, so Tambay, who had been slipping back, gets fresh tyres.
35:14Now, it may well be, ooh, that's a quick one, I made that just on nine stationary seconds on my stopwatch, so Tambay has needed fresh tyres.
35:26Will Derek Warwick, currently in fourth place, have the same problem? We don't know whether Tambay and Warwick have chosen the same tyre compounds.
35:37Several drivers, in fact, are juggling with compounds and use a harder tyre on the outside on the left-hand tyres than on the right-hand tyres, because it's the left tyres that take most of the strain here at Brands Hatch, although the corners do go both ways.
35:54There's Tambay out of the pits again, and we've got our lovely battle back with the Ligier and the two Ferraris, except that they've now got Patrick Tambay on fresh rubber, just out of the pits, just in front of them.
36:06Patrick Tambay in the Renault, de Cesaris in the Ligier-Renault, Arnoux and Alboreto in the two Ferraris, all tied together.
36:14You could almost put a pocket handkerchief over the three of them, but Tambay now does pull away.
36:18Now Arnoux's going to try again, but de Cesaris isn't going to let him do it that time.
36:22De Cesaris keeps the door shut, and Arnoux follows the line through.
36:27Now Arnoux tries on the inside of Druids. No, he's not going to do it this time either.
36:31And Alboreto sits behind and waits to see what's going to happen.
36:35And there's no doubt that these three aren't running anything like as quickly as the front runners, because Patrick Tambay is pulling away very quickly on his fresh tyres.
36:46Arnoux stuck behind de Cesaris. Alboreto is sitting behind Arnoux.
36:52And there is Tambay well away, going up to Hawthorne's, onto the short Derek Minter straight.
37:03Tambay down Dingledale, as we wait for the pursuit.
37:09And we see, in fact, the leader, Alain Prost, on his confident way, now having shaken off the pursuit completely.
37:20Niki Lauda is a long way back, and Prost can concentrate on working his way through these back markers.
37:26A little twitch from the front of the car there, as he came into Dingledale corner.
37:31This is Stirling's. Oh yes, and that car is understeering.
37:35There's a handling problem there with Alain Prost's car. You could see him piling on more lot for that left-hander, and he still touched the kerb.
37:43So Alain Prost not looking as tidy as he had earlier.
37:48Still going very, very quickly. There you saw the blue flag, because Niki Lauda has, in fact, closed up on him.
37:53Alain Prost in a little bit of handling problem there, I would think.
37:57Let's watch him at Druids, and quite tidy at Druids. Of course, a slower corner there.
38:04Away from Druids, but Niki Lauda has got very much closer to Alain Prost.
38:09And Nelson Piquet has a back marker between himself and Lauda, but Lauda is closing, and Alain Prost, I think, is slowing.
38:18Is Alain Prost in problems? Certainly the car seemed to be understeering.
38:22Oh yes, and Niki Lauda goes ahead. Niki Lauda takes the lead, and Alain Prost is slowing right down.
38:27The Brabham's going to go by as well. Niki Lauda leads.
38:31Back marker Sura goes by, but surely Nelson Piquet is going to go by Prost.
38:36Whatever Prost's problem is, it's serious. Yes, Piquet goes through. Nelson Piquet is second.
38:42Alain Prost demoted to third, and I thought that there was something amiss on the last lap,
38:48because you could see that Prost was having trouble turning that car through Stirlings.
38:54Piquet moves away, Sura moves away, and Alain Prost slows right down,
39:01and I think we're going to see McLaren number seven coming into the pits.
39:05Under the bridge, down to clearways, comes Alain Prost, and indeed he peels into the pit lane.
39:14Now, is it going to be something that they can sort out?
39:17Are we going to see an Alain Prost drive back through the field, or is it terminal?
39:22And Prost pointing, I think, to the front of the car there. Yes, they're changing the front tyres.
39:29Prost gesticulating. No, he wants to talk to the mechanics. He's waving them close. It's more serious than that.
39:37And he speaks to one of the McLaren personnel, gestures with his hands, and this looks more serious.
39:45Alain Prost, the former leader, the current leader in the World Championship. They're wheeling the car forward.
39:54They're going to take the bodywork off. Yes, the bodywork's coming off. Prost still in the car.
39:59There you see the aggregate position after now 38 laps, three and a half seconds between Lauda and Piquet.
40:06Warwick third, de Angelis fourth, Senna is now up to fifth, Patrick Tambay a distant sixth, despite that pit stop for fresh tyres.
40:15But Niki Lauda now comfortably ahead, and they're wheeling the McLaren back into the pits.
40:24Still Alain Prost sits in the car. Is he going to stay there while they do more work?
40:30But the McLaren number seven pushed right into the back of the pits for more work.
40:36And we can't tell what the problem is, but it's obviously very serious because it's been a long pit stop, over a lap now.
40:45Has Alain Prost been in the pits? And here is our new leader, Niki Lauda.
40:50Lauda, who won the British Grand Prix at Brands Hatch two years ago, his return year to Grand Prix racing after his two-year layoff with the McLaren.
41:02And of course Lauda won the controversial 1976 Grand Prix here, when James Hunt was first passed the flag, only to be disqualified.
41:12And Niki Lauda, driving of course for Ferrari in those days, got the victory.
41:17Ferrari, of course, not faring so well at Brands Hatch today.
41:21On aggregate, we've got Alboreto in seventh place and Arnoux in ninth place, with de Cesaris between them.
41:29But on the road, de Cesaris is still in front of Arnoux and Alboreto.
41:35They're still struggling to get past them.
41:37Niki Lauda, meanwhile, out of Druids, down the hill to Graham Hillbend, and he's now absolutely on his own.
41:45He can settle down to the sort of clean, professional drive, which he loves to do.
41:51Lauda, who's had a lot of bad luck this year, but has won two Grands Prix.
41:58Despite that, he's been leading others when his car has let him down.
42:04And there is Nelson Piquet, not very far behind.
42:07Piquet, in fact, I think is closer than he was last lap.
42:10Yes, Nelson Piquet is putting in a charge.
42:14Now, it may be that Niki Lauda is relaxing a little bit, waiting to see how close Piquet can get to him.
42:20It may be even that he's trying to tantalize Piquet, let Piquet get close to him and then pull away.
42:27Whatever, it's certainly providing a magnificent British Grand Prix,
42:31and how sad that that man, Alain Prost, can only just watch from the sidelines
42:37and see his own teammate leading the race and see his own chance of nine championship points at Brands Hatch today going down the drain.
42:46Piquet fighting the Brabham across the apex at Paddock Bend, up to Druids now.
42:54Down the hill, Piquet striving to find a tenth of a second here, a hundredth of a second there, up to Surtees.
43:04Meanwhile, the leader on the long back section, there comes Piquet on his tail.
43:10They go up briefly to 190 miles an hour at the bottom of this dip before they go up to Hawthorne's Bend,
43:16the fast right-hand kink to the sharper Westfield Bend there.
43:22Down the hill once more to Dingle Dell.
43:25Suspensions, shock absorbers and brakes all taking a real punishing round Brands Hatch.
43:302.6 very, very hard miles.
43:33Now Stirling's, the left-hander.
43:37Piquet off the kerb that time, just using all the road and no more.
43:41Very neat and very tidy and no doubt very, very quick.
43:45Clearways.
43:47Clarke kerb.
43:49There's a back marker ahead of Lowder.
43:52Lowder is past it.
43:54It was Hugh Brottengatter, the Dutchman in the white spirit with the Hart engine,
43:59and 2.6 is the official gap at this point.
44:05The back marker between them, Brottengatter in the spirit,
44:08just could possibly delay Piquet if Piquet is unlucky enough to close right up
44:14just when they're getting to the apex of a corner.
44:17And there you got a glimpse of the two Ferraris still stuck behind de Cesaris.
44:21Now this could be absolutely fascinating because that trio of cars going through Hawthorne Bend there
44:27are just ahead of the leader.
44:29Nicky Lowder is going to catch up with the de Cesaris-Arnoux-Alberetto trio
44:35and he's going to have to work his way through.
44:37There is Piquet who's now lapped Brottengatter
44:40and I could guess that the two Ferraris and the Ligier are going to be so intent on their own battle
44:50that they may, unintentionally anyway, hold up Nicky Lowder
44:54and allow Nelson Piquet to get very much closer.
44:57There's Piquet and he's going to be able to see exactly what's happening in front of him
45:03and the Brazilian former world champion is an expert at this sort of racecraft.
45:08Ooh, a twitch there from Arnoux! It's Alberetto ahead of Arnoux incidentally now.
45:14There they are all together at Druids. Lowder closing on Arnoux.
45:20Arnoux, Alberetto as close as he possibly can get to de Cesaris
45:26and a further intrigue is that de Cesaris himself is coming up to lap his own team mate François Eno.
45:33There he does it! Goes very close to him indeed down the long back straight.
45:37In fact Eno going very slowly there and de Cesaris didn't leave him any more room than he had to.
45:42In fact Eno passed by all of them including Piquet but look at this gaggle, look at this quartet.
45:49De Cesaris, Alberetto, Arnoux and Lowder all as close as that
45:53and is Arnoux going to make life easy for Niki Lowder?
45:58The Ferrari of Arnoux with its mirrors full of the race leader Niki Lowder.
46:04They're out of Stirlings. Lowder not attempting to get by at this stage
46:08but as they come down now to the start finish straight de Cesaris.
46:12Arnoux is behind Alberetto, Lowder is behind Arnoux
46:17and Lowder does indeed go past Arnoux up to Paddock Bend.
46:23So Lowder between the two Ferraris. Now Lowder is going to...
46:28Oh and Alberetto going through at last. Oh that was so very close!
46:33Alberetto and de Cesaris interlocking wheels at Druids there
46:39but finally Alberetto said I've had enough, I don't want to stick behind this Ligier anymore.
46:45I certainly don't want to have the leader coming past and spoiling my chances of getting by.
46:50And now look how at once Alberetto has pulled away from de Cesaris.
46:56Now de Cesaris has to give best to Lowder who darts in front just before Hawthorns,
47:01chops back in front of the Ligier. So Alberetto is passed, Lowder is passed,
47:06Arnoux and Piquet are still stuck behind the Ligier.
47:11And somebody waved somebody on there.
47:15It was Arnoux graciously waving Nelson Piquet past.
47:19So now it's only the persistent de Cesaris who is splitting the first and second place men.
47:25How long is it going to take Nelson Piquet to get past de Cesaris?
47:29Oh and I think he did it there just out of the picture. I think he forced his way through at Clearways.
47:34Yes indeed he did. So now we've got Lowder and Piquet together once more
47:41with Alberetto still ahead of the leader, Lowder.
47:46Up at Druids, that was where just a lap ago Alberetto and de Cesaris had that heart-stopping moment
47:53where they actually got their wheels virtually interlocked.
47:57But now going down to Sertiz, Piquet, de Cesaris.
48:03There's de Cesaris. And Alberetto still has his mirrors full of Niki Lowder.
48:09There is Piquet. The Brabham with this triangular air intake,
48:15which it's been wearing since the North American races, slightly changed for this race indeed.
48:20No more sign apparently of the difficulties that Nelson Piquet had in Montreal
48:26when his feet got burned by that new oil radiator at the front.
48:30The Brabham a very, very well sorted car, even if it doesn't yet seem to be quite as quick
48:36as the McLaren on this circuit anyway. Piquet a little untidier there,
48:40actually using the rough at the exit of Stirlings.
48:44There is Niki Lowder with Alberetto still in front.
48:48Alberetto is going very, very quickly now.
48:51So furious, I think, was he at being stuck for so long behind de Cesaris.
48:55He's now determined to make up ground, but Lowder surely will pass him soon.
48:59Lowder closes as they go up to Druids.
49:02And Lowder isn't going to himself want to get stuck behind the Ferrari
49:06because Piquet is closing all the time.
49:09Alberetto going slightly slower than Lowder would want to.
49:12Piquet using that advantage to close up on the leader.
49:16Certes once more, up over the Brabham.
49:20Now Lowder is tucked in the slipstream as they go down the fast section
49:24and now he goes ahead and Alberetto kept out of the way.
49:28He got the blue flag, he moved across to the right-hand side of the road,
49:32so he quite deliberately allowed Niki Lowder to go through.
49:37Having stayed in front of him, he didn't hold him up at all.
49:4013.915, Niki Lowder's best lap and the best lap of the race so far.
49:47And that's almost three seconds slower than they were going in qualifying,
49:51than Nelson Piquet's pole position qualifying time indeed,
49:54as Piquet goes himself past Alberetto.
49:59And now we can get a clear picture of whether Nelson Piquet is able to reel in the Brabham.
50:07We can get the stopwatch on it once again, this is Paddock Bend.
50:11Piquet with clear road ahead of him, Alberetto following them up to Druids once more.
50:17And inevitably the Ligier of de Cesaris still has cars stuck behind it.
50:22René Arnoux's Ferrari still there, but also Derek Warwick has caught up with them to lap them.
50:27Derek Warwick who's been in third place ever since Alain Prost's retirement
50:32and Warwick now behind Arnoux.
50:35Arnoux is going to let Warwick through.
50:38Warwick takes Arnoux on the inside at Sertiz
50:43and still poor René Arnoux hasn't yet had the opportunity to grapple with the Ligier.
50:50Now this is a real battle for a real place because Elio de Angelis has been caught by Ayrton Senna.
50:57Ayrton Senna right up with de Angelis.
50:59Ayrton Senna who's driven so strongly all this race gets on the inside of de Angelis
51:05who is indeed slowing at Paddock Bend and the Toleman is clearly through.
51:11It was here two years ago that we had the first sight of what Toleman were really capable of
51:18when Derek Warwick got his Toleman up into second place
51:21but now Ayrton Senna has got his Toleman up into fourth place.
51:26Derek Warwick is third.
51:27Piquet of course still second.
51:29Lauda still leading.
51:30We're going to see it again.
51:32A perfect manoeuvre and Elio de Angelis I don't think able to do anything very much about that.
51:37De Angelis certainly has now begun to slow.
51:40De Angelis however still in fifth place
51:44and that's Piquet slowing.
51:46Piquet slows.
51:48Piquet looks in his mirror.
51:49There's a puff of smoke from the back of the Brabham.
51:52Second man Nelson Piquet suddenly slows.
51:55He pulls over to the right-hand side of the road
51:58and Michele Alboreto goes storming by
52:01and once again as Niki Lauda goes on his triumphant way
52:05once again the Brabham BMW has run into trouble late in the race.
52:11Now whatever Nelson Piquet's trouble is he is still second
52:15although he's going to lose that second place I would think very very quickly indeed
52:20and it's a matter of whether he can nurse the Brabham home through the few remaining laps left.
52:27Here is Lauda at Stirling's
52:30and his pit signals are about to tell him the news
52:33that there is a new second man in the shape of Derek Warwick
52:38and he's a long long way behind.
52:43Past the pits goes Niki Lauda
52:45and ahead of him there's a very slow Brabham indeed.
52:48There is Nelson Piquet, the indignity for Nelson Piquet
52:52as he is lapped by Niki Lauda
52:55and the order will now be Warwick second and Senna third.
53:02Elio de Angelis, the slowing Lotus of de Angelis will move up into fourth place
53:08but Niki Lauda has more back markers ahead of him.
53:11It's the arrows of Marc Surer
53:17and this is poor Nelson Piquet crawling round now.
53:21Whatever the problem is the engine's still running
53:24no sign of any more of that smoke which heralded his slowing.
53:28There are the positions after 67 laps
53:32so four laps in total still to run
53:35and de Angelis on the aggregate order still given third place
53:40although Senna is only two and a half seconds behind.
53:43Senna is going much quicker.
53:45Piquet is already down to fifth place on aggregate with Tambay sixth
53:49and it won't be long before Senna establishes himself
53:53in third place on aggregate I would think.
53:56Marc Surer is lapped now by Niki Lauda
53:59who has pure Carlo Ghinzani ahead of him.
54:02Ghinzani has put in another good race here.
54:05Ghinzani is lapped in the Osella
54:08and there is Elio de Angelis
54:13going slower and slower.
54:15In fact he's just been passed now by René Arnoux
54:19so yet again we've got at the very end of a Grand Prix
54:24cars struggling home to finish
54:27not least Nelson Piquet who has been lapped by the leader Niki Lauda
54:33and Lauda now reeling the laps off confidently
54:38down Pilgrim's Drop
54:41Dingledell onto the left-hander at Stirling's
54:49out of Stirling's, under the Longines Bridge
54:53it's John Player this side
54:55Clearways, Clark Curve
55:00and now Lauda starts his final lap
55:05and no doubt Alain Prost still watching from the pits
55:09Alain Prost who really looked as though he had this race in his pocket
55:13but it's going to be another McLaren victory
55:15and while one of the McLarens has failed
55:17the other one was there to take over
55:19Niki Lauda out of Druids for the last time
55:22third gear, Graham Hill Bend
55:25up into fourth along the Curving Cooper Straight
55:28down into third once more for Surtees
55:31up the slight incline that will take him over the brow
55:35and down the Pilgrim's Drop section
55:38there is Derek Warwick now in Druids for his last time
55:42Derek Warwick who's going to score his second
55:44second place of the year
55:46meanwhile already Niki Lauda is himself in Dingledell
55:50up out of Dingledell to Dingledell Corner
55:53he's got Elio De Angelis and the Lotus ahead of him
55:56De Angelis leads Lauda through the left-hander of Stirling's Bend
56:02a burst of acceleration takes Niki Lauda past the Lotus
56:07now Lauda comes into sight of the start-finish crowds
56:12Clark Curve up to the chequered flag
56:15a war dance of delight from one of the McLaren mechanics
56:18who almost gets run over in the road
56:20and there's Patrick Tambay
56:22Tambay who should be sixth
56:24his car coming to a smoking halt
56:26bring the fire extinguisher he says
56:28it's on fire, Patrick Tambay himself puts the fire out
56:32Derek Warwick squeezes past Hugh Brottengatter to take second place
56:37so Niki Lauda in his 151st Grand Prix
56:42scores his 22nd victory
56:45and for lovers of statistics
56:47Niki Lauda has now scored more championship points
56:51in Grand Prix racing than any other driver in history
56:54he has just overtaken Jackie Stewart's total
56:57but I think much more important for Niki Lauda
57:01will be the nine points that he scored today
57:03towards the 1984 World Championship
57:06Warwick a splendid second
57:08Ayrton Senna a superb and well-deserved third for Toleman
57:12De Angelis struggling home fourth with the Lotus
57:15ahead of Alboreto and Arnoux in the two Ferraris
57:20well what an extraordinary British Grand Prix this has been
57:24after 12 laps out came the red flag
57:26so only the first 11 laps counted
57:29Jonathan Palmer's accident had stopped the race
57:32and then this huge crowd saw a further start
57:36and a further 60 laps
57:38so 71 laps in total of the British Grand Prix
57:41there's a delighted Derek Warwick
57:44with his wife Rhonda and his little daughter on his arm
57:48and he can feel very pleased with his second place
57:52because it ends a long drought of championship points
57:55for Derek Warwick
57:57Prince Michael of Kent congratulates Niki Lauda
57:59Jean-Marie Ballest congratulates Ayrton Senna
58:02Derek Warwick in the picture as well
58:04three victors first, second and third
58:07for Lauda, for Warwick and for Senna
58:10and a splendid and exciting British Grand Prix
58:15Niki Lauda, his third win at Brands Hatch
58:17and third victory this year
58:19you must be very pleased with that drive, Niki
58:21The car was going very well, I had no problems
58:23so therefore I could win the race
58:25What about when you saw your teammate go out
58:27did you worry about the same mechanical problem with your car?
58:30No, not really, because some things can go wrong here or the other car
58:33I certainly was not happy when he stopped
58:35but I mean, if he stops, I'm happy that I could win
58:38Niki, personally, how do you feel about being the driver
58:41who has scored more Grand Prix points than anyone else in history
58:44passing Jackie Stewart with these nine points
58:47must be very rewarding to you
58:49It's more rewarding than nine points to you
58:51but I'm certainly happy I have the most points
58:53and the championship is very close now
58:55That's right, that's important
58:56A great team rivalry
58:57That's right
58:58Congratulations, Niki, thank you very much
59:00Thank you
59:01Well, as John Bisignano said
59:03the World Drivers' Championship indeed is very much closer
59:07Just one and a half points now separate Alain Prost and Niki Lauda
59:11Elio de Angelis scoring yet another set of points
59:14in this so reliable season for him
59:17is third with 26 and a half
59:19three points behind him, René Arnoux
59:21Keke Rosberg didn't score today
59:23Derek Warrick did
59:25so there's only one point between them
59:27and McLaren have more points
59:29in their tremendous total in the World Constructors' Championship
59:3267 and a half now
59:34to 34 and a half for Ferrari
59:36with Lotus a couple of points behind
59:38Just two weeks away
59:40we've got the German Grand Prix at Hockenheim
59:42another high-speed circuit
59:44Join us then