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1984 Dallas Grand Prix
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1984 Dallas Grand Prix
The 1984 Dallas Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on July 8, 1984 at Fair Park in Dallas, Texas. It was the only running of the Dallas Grand Prix as a Formula One race, and the ninth race of the 1984 Formula One World Championship.
The 67-lap race was held in very hot weather on a disintegrating track, and was won by Finnish driver Keke Rosberg, driving a Williams-Honda, with Frenchman René Arnoux second in a Ferrari and Italian Elio de Angelis third in a Lotus-Renault. Englishman Nigel Mansell took pole position in the other Lotus-Renault and led the first half of the race, before suffering a gearbox failure at the very end and collapsing from exhaustion while trying to push his car over the finish line.
Keke Rosberg of Finland won his only race of the season at the Dallas Grand Prix. The race was one of only two races in 1984 where both of the year's dominant McLarens driven by Niki Lauda and Alain Prost did not score (Belgium being the other), and gave Honda their first turbocharged Grand Prix win and also their first Grand Prix win since the 1967 Italian Grand Prix. René Arnoux's Ferrari was the only other car on the lead lap at the end after starting from the pit lane due to an electrical fault on the warm up lap, while Elio de Angelis came home third for Lotus. It was the only race of the season that cars using Goodyear tyres filled all three podium positions. Only 8 cars finished the race, due to crashes or engine failures in up to 100 degrees Fahrenheit (38 °C) heat, and also the track was breaking up very badly, as in the 1980 Argentine Grand Prix.
The event was conceived as a way to demonstrate Dallas's status as a "world-class city" and overcame 100 °F (38 °C) heat, a disintegrating track surface and weekend-long rumors of its cancellation. Famous American racing driver and race car builder Carroll Shelby, who grew up in Dallas, served as race director. Preparations for the race were marred by managerial difficulties and conflicts between F1 personnel and local race organizers, and opinions on the venue were mixed. In statements to the Dallas Times Herald, Lotus team principal Peter Warr said he was "super impressed" with Dallas, but F1 leader Bernie Ecclestone—commenting on the repurposing of the Fair Park Coliseum, which was normally used for livestock shows, as a race garage—said “We don’t normally work in cowshit”.
The tight and twisty course was laid out on the Texas State Fair Grounds with help from United States Grand Prix West founder Chris Pook, and featured two hairpin curves. While the layout was seen as interesting and was generally well received by the drivers (though some thought one or two of the chicanes made it tighter than it needed to be), all had issues with the lack of run-off areas and the crumbling surface which during the race itself made the track more like a rallycross track than a Grand Prix circuit. It was bubbling before qualifying, and after a few laps, it began to break apart.
After the first practice on Friday, the Lotus drivers, Nigel Mansell and de Angelis, who both started from the front row with Mansell recording his first career pole position, said the temporary course was the roughest circuit they had ever driven. Nelson Piquet wondered whether the track, the drivers or the cars would break first in the oppressive heat. Afternoon qualifying saw temperatures continue to rise past 100 °F (38 °C), and Goodyear recorded the highest track temperature in their 20 years of racing, 150 °F (66 °C).
Martin Brundle suffered a severe and career-altering crash during practice. Driving a Tyrrell 012, a tire puncture caused him to smash into concrete walls, resulting in broken ankles and feet. The incident nearly led to amputation and kept him out of racing for the remainder of the season.
Dallas was the first time since the 1978 Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort that both Lotus drivers qualified on the front row of the grid. Back then, it was 1978 World Champion Mario Andretti and his teammate Ronnie Peterson who qualified 1–2 in the revolutionary Lotus 79.
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1984 Dallas Grand Prix
The 1984 Dallas Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on July 8, 1984 at Fair Park in Dallas, Texas. It was the only running of the Dallas Grand Prix as a Formula One race, and the ninth race of the 1984 Formula One World Championship.
The 67-lap race was held in very hot weather on a disintegrating track, and was won by Finnish driver Keke Rosberg, driving a Williams-Honda, with Frenchman René Arnoux second in a Ferrari and Italian Elio de Angelis third in a Lotus-Renault. Englishman Nigel Mansell took pole position in the other Lotus-Renault and led the first half of the race, before suffering a gearbox failure at the very end and collapsing from exhaustion while trying to push his car over the finish line.
Keke Rosberg of Finland won his only race of the season at the Dallas Grand Prix. The race was one of only two races in 1984 where both of the year's dominant McLarens driven by Niki Lauda and Alain Prost did not score (Belgium being the other), and gave Honda their first turbocharged Grand Prix win and also their first Grand Prix win since the 1967 Italian Grand Prix. René Arnoux's Ferrari was the only other car on the lead lap at the end after starting from the pit lane due to an electrical fault on the warm up lap, while Elio de Angelis came home third for Lotus. It was the only race of the season that cars using Goodyear tyres filled all three podium positions. Only 8 cars finished the race, due to crashes or engine failures in up to 100 degrees Fahrenheit (38 °C) heat, and also the track was breaking up very badly, as in the 1980 Argentine Grand Prix.
The event was conceived as a way to demonstrate Dallas's status as a "world-class city" and overcame 100 °F (38 °C) heat, a disintegrating track surface and weekend-long rumors of its cancellation. Famous American racing driver and race car builder Carroll Shelby, who grew up in Dallas, served as race director. Preparations for the race were marred by managerial difficulties and conflicts between F1 personnel and local race organizers, and opinions on the venue were mixed. In statements to the Dallas Times Herald, Lotus team principal Peter Warr said he was "super impressed" with Dallas, but F1 leader Bernie Ecclestone—commenting on the repurposing of the Fair Park Coliseum, which was normally used for livestock shows, as a race garage—said “We don’t normally work in cowshit”.
The tight and twisty course was laid out on the Texas State Fair Grounds with help from United States Grand Prix West founder Chris Pook, and featured two hairpin curves. While the layout was seen as interesting and was generally well received by the drivers (though some thought one or two of the chicanes made it tighter than it needed to be), all had issues with the lack of run-off areas and the crumbling surface which during the race itself made the track more like a rallycross track than a Grand Prix circuit. It was bubbling before qualifying, and after a few laps, it began to break apart.
After the first practice on Friday, the Lotus drivers, Nigel Mansell and de Angelis, who both started from the front row with Mansell recording his first career pole position, said the temporary course was the roughest circuit they had ever driven. Nelson Piquet wondered whether the track, the drivers or the cars would break first in the oppressive heat. Afternoon qualifying saw temperatures continue to rise past 100 °F (38 °C), and Goodyear recorded the highest track temperature in their 20 years of racing, 150 °F (66 °C).
Martin Brundle suffered a severe and career-altering crash during practice. Driving a Tyrrell 012, a tire puncture caused him to smash into concrete walls, resulting in broken ankles and feet. The incident nearly led to amputation and kept him out of racing for the remainder of the season.
Dallas was the first time since the 1978 Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort that both Lotus drivers qualified on the front row of the grid. Back then, it was 1978 World Champion Mario Andretti and his teammate Ronnie Peterson who qualified 1–2 in the revolutionary Lotus 79.