Pironi is on a roll

Didier Pironi, on his way to victory, driving his Martini Mk22-Renault of the Renault ELF team in 1977 (photo above), during the Estoril round of the European Formula 2 Championship.

The 1977 European Formula 2 Championship consisted of 13 rounds and featured an impressive array of drivers who would eventually find their way into Formula 1. France was well represented by René Arnoux and Didier Pironi, who raced for the Renault Elf team and its factory Martini cars.

René Arnoux dominated the championship with 4 wins and two second places and finished ahead of the American from Rome, Eddie Cheever, in his Ralt-BMW from Ron Dennis’s Project Four Racing.

However, it was Didier Pironi, third with just one win, who would get the best drive in Formula 1 in 1978 with Ken Tyrrell, while Arnoux would do two races with Surtees and then four with Martini before moving to Renault in 1979. Cheever, for his part, would continue in F2 in 1978, and compete in one Grand Prix in a modest Hesketh.