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Drama at Hockenheim

02. Apr 2021 
by Ziv Knoll
6207 views

For the 1982 German Grand Prix, the circuit of Hockenheim had been modified with the first chicane being made slower and another chicane (Didier Pironi, picture above) added to slow the cars through the very fast Östkurve.

Didier Pironi (Ferrari 126 C2) claimed pole position, but was seriously injured later in the ultimate practice, while testing a new composition Goodyear rain tyre at high speed, and never raced in Formula One again.

With the track wet because of persistent showers, Pironi was on a quick lap when his Ferrari hit the back of Alain Prost’s slow moving Renault at high speed, vaulting over the top of it.

In the rain, one of the many problems caused by “ground effect cars” F1 cars, was that the spray was forced out of the side pods as a fine mist and virtually created a fog. To those behind, this made cars in front close to invisible.

Pironi survived but suffered severe leg injuries (picture below) that sidelined him for the rest of the year and sadly ended his racing career.

At this point, he was leading with 39 points in the championship, ahead of Watson (30) and Rosberg (27). Later, Keke Rosberg passed him to become the 1982 World Champion. Despite missing four races of that year’s fourteen, Pironi lost the title to the Finn by just 5 points.

Source: Motorsport Images

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1 Comment

  1. 1982! C’est l’année de ma naissance
    voilà donc ce qui se passait dans le monde alors que j’éteins nourrisson
    Ça me plaît de découvrir ce qui a marquée monde au ma naissance 🙃

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