For Ronnie…

At the preceding 1978 Italian Grand Prix, Mario Andretti had secured the driver’s championship. It was a sad crowning though, as his team mate and great friend Ronnie Peterson had died, following the terrible accident he was the main victim of, at the start in Monza…

At Watkins Glen, US Grand Prix East 1978, Andretti put his Lotus 79 on the pole position before a record crowd of over 150,000 fans, urging him (picture-above) to “win this one for Ronnie”. Unfortunately, Andretti’s Lotus developed brake problems early on and would retire with a blown engine. Carlos Reutemann won the race in his Ferrari 312T3.