Carlos Pace

José Carlos Pace

Bust of Pace at the Autódromo José Carlos Pace
Born (1944-10-06)6 October 1944
São Paulo, Brazil
Died 18 March 1977(1977-03-18) (aged 32)
Mairiporã, Brazil
Formula One World Championship career
Nationality Brazil Brazilian
Active years 19721977
Teams Williams, Surtees, Brabham
Entries 73 (72 starts)
Championships 0
Wins 1
Podiums 6
Career points 58
Pole positions 1
Fastest laps 5
First entry 1972 South African Grand Prix
First win 1975 Brazilian Grand Prix
Last win 1975 Brazilian Grand Prix
Last entry 1977 South African Grand Prix

José Carlos Pace (October 6, 1944, in São Paulo – March 18, 1977, Mairiporã, São Paulo) was a racing driver from Brazil. He participated in 73 Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, debuting on March 4, 1972. He won one race, achieved six podiums, and scored a total of 58 championship points. He also secured one pole position.

Career

Pace driving a Ferrari 312PB at the Nürburgring in 1973.

Pace was a contemporary of the Fittipaldi brothers, Wilson and Emerson, and began racing in Brazil in the late 1960s. He travelled to Europe in 1970 and competed in British Formula 3, winning the Forward Trust championship in a Lotus car. In 1971 he moved up to Formula Two with Frank Williams, but did not score any points from six races. Nevertheless, he moved up to Formula One in 1972, competing with a Williams-entered March. He scored points on two occasions and finished eighteenth in the Drivers' Championship. His best result came at the non-championship Victory Race, in which he finished in second position. He also competed in some further F2 and Can-Am races.

For 1973, Pace moved to the Surtees team and improved to eleventh place in the championship after scoring a fourth place in Germany and his first championship podium finish with third in Austria. He also set the fastest lap in both of these events. He also competed in three F2 races for Surtees, but his main racing activities outside F1 were in the World Sportscar Championship, in which he drove for the works Ferrari team. Sharing a 312PB with Arturo Merzario, the duo finished second at the Nürburgring and at Le Mans (after starting in pole position for the latter event), and third at Watkins Glen.

He remained with Surtees for 1974 and scored a fourth-place finish in Brazil, but parted company with the outfit mid-season after falling out with the founder, John Surtees. He drove a privately entered Brabham for Goldie Hexagon Racing at the French Grand Prix but failed to qualify, before moving to the works team alongside namesake Carlos Reutemann for the next race. After initially struggling with the new machinery, he finished fifth and set the fastest lap at Monza, and repeated the feat on his way to second, behind Reutemann, at Watkins Glen, securing a one-two finish for Brabham.

Pace at the Nürburgring in 1973.

The Brabham team's BT44B chassis were competitive throughout the 1975 season, allowing Pace and Reutemann to feature at the front of the grid. Pace duly took his first and only Formula One victory in front of his home crowd at the Brazilian Grand Prix, took his first pole position at the following race in South Africa, and also finished on the podium at Monaco and Silverstone, ending the season sixth overall in the Drivers' Championship and helping Brabham to second in the Constructors' Championship, behind Ferrari.

He remained with Brabham for 1976, but the car was much less competitive due to a change of engine, from Ford-Cosworth to Alfa Romeo. The Italian V12 units were larger, heavier, less reliable and less economical than their V8 predecessors, restricting Pace to fourteenth place in the championship, whilst Reutemann left the team before the end of the season.

By the start of the 1977 season, the competitiveness and durability of the Alfa engines had been much improved for Pace and his new team-mate, John Watson. He demonstrated this fact by taking second position at the season opener in Argentina, and running strongly in the next two Grands Prix before suffering from mechanical trouble, but he was unable to capitalise on the improved performance for the rest of the season due to his sudden death.

Death and honours

Pace was killed in a light aircraft accident near São Paulo, Brazil[1] on 18 March 1977, 13 days after fellow F1 driver Tom Pryce and marshal Jansen Van Vuuren lost their lives during the 1977 South African Grand Prix.[2] The Interlagos track, the scene of his only F1 win in 1975, was renamed Autódromo José Carlos Pace in his honour. Pace is buried in Cemitério do Araça, São Paulo.

In the 1977 motorsport film Bobby Deerfield, the eponymous title character is represented by Pace in the racing scenes.

Complete Formula One World Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position / Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Entrant Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 WDC Points
1972 Team Williams Motul March 711 Cosworth V8 ARG RSA
17
ESP
6
MON
17
BEL
5
FRA
Ret
GBR
Ret
GER
NC
AUT
NC
ITA
Ret
CAN
9
USA
Ret
18th 3
1973 Brooke Bond Oxo Team Surtees Surtees TS14A Cosworth V8 ARG
Ret
BRA
Ret
RSA
Ret
ESP
Ret
BEL
8
MON
Ret
SWE
10
FRA
13
GBR
Ret
NED
7
GER
4
AUT
3
ITA
Ret
CAN
Ret
USA
Ret
11th 7
1974 Team Surtees Surtees TS16 Cosworth V8 ARG
Ret
BRA
4
12th 11
Bang & Olufsen Team Surtees RSA
11
ESP
13
BEL
Ret
MON
Ret
SWE
Ret
NED
Goldie Hexagon Racing Brabham BT42 FRA
DNQ
Motor Racing Developments Brabham BT44 GBR
9
GER
12
AUT
Ret
ITA
5
CAN
8
USA
2
1975 Martini Racing Brabham BT44B Cosworth V8 ARG
Ret
BRA
1
RSA
4
ESP
Ret
MON
3
BEL
8
SWE
Ret
NED
5
FRA
Ret
GBR
2
GER
Ret
AUT
Ret
ITA
Ret
USA
Ret
6th 24
1976 Martini Racing Brabham BT45 Alfa Romeo Flat-12 BRA
10
RSA
Ret
USW
9
ESP
6
BEL
Ret
MON
9
SWE
8
FRA
4
GBR
8
GER
4
AUT
Ret
NED
Ret
ITA
Ret
CAN
7
USA
Ret
JPN
Ret
14th 7
1977 Martini Racing Brabham BT45 Alfa Romeo Flat-12 ARG
2
BRA
Ret
15th 6
Brabham BT45B RSA
13
USW ESP MON BEL SWE FRA GBR GER AUT NED ITA USA CAN JPN
Source:[3]

Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results

Year Class No Tyres Car Team Co-Drivers Laps Pos. Class
Pos.
1973 S3.0 16 G Ferrari 312PB
Ferrari 312 F12 2991cc
Italy Ferrari SEFAC SpA Italy Arturo Merzario 349 2nd 2nd

References

  1. "This Charming Man: Carlos Pace". themotorsportarchive.com. Retrieved 6 March 2014.
  2. Henry (1985) pp. 164, 167
  3. Small, Steve (1994). The Guinness Complete Grand Prix Who's Who. Guinness. pp. 274–5. ISBN 0851127029.

Books

Wikimedia Commons has media related to José Carlos Pace.
Sporting positions
Preceded by
Roy Pike
(1965)
British Formula 3 Championship
BARC Series Champion

1970
Succeeded by
Dave Walker
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