Missed opportunity

Patrick Depailler returns on foot and unharmed, but a little shaken nonetheless, after his off-road excursion on the 46th lap of the 1979 Belgian Grand Prix run on the Zolder circuit (open picture-above, to see it in full).

The Ligier team had a thunderous start to the 1979 season, dominating the early races: victories for Laffite in Argentina and Brazil (a one-two finish for the French team), followed by a win for Depailler in Spain. The Ligier JS11, designed by Gérard Ducarouge, was not only beautiful but also highly competitive.

Here at Zolder, the two Ligier JS11s confirmed their dominance in qualifying: Laffite narrowly ahead of Depailler, but in the race, it was Jody Scheckter and his Ferrari 312T4 who would prevail over Jacques Laffite, the two drivers now finding themselves tied on points in the provisional championship standings, while Depailler went off the road.

A missed opportunity for Guy Ligier’s men, (picture below Laffite on his way to second place at Zolder), who would not manage to win again for the rest of the season, the JS11 having meanwhile lost some of its luster, and it was the Ferrari 312T4s of Jody Scheckter and Gilles Villeneuve who would take the first two places in the 1979 World Drivers’ Championship.