Competitive but…

It was raining during qualifying for the 1976 German Formula 1 Grand Prix, held at the 22 km long Nürburgring. Vittorio Brambilla (picture-above), usually quite at ease in these conditions, struggled to find grip and qualified his orange March 761-Cosworth in 13th position.

The March 761 was a Formula One racing car designed by Robin Herd. It had an aluminium monocoque and was powered by the 3.0L V8 Cosworth. At its wheel, Ronnie Peterson won, later that year, the 1976 Italian Grand Prix at Monza.

More proof that the March 761 was a competitive package: Brambilla’s team-mate Hans-Joachim Stuck, who knew the Ring  by heart, and was super motivated in front of his home crowd, qualified an excellent 4th on the grid.

This race, famous for Lauda’s crash in his Ferrari and its consequences, was won by title rival James Hunt (McLaren). Brambilla was involved in an accident on lap 1 and retired. No luck for crowd favourite Stuck, who had superbly qualified but was forced to retire on the grid, clutch broken.