Carlos Pace
Carlos Pace
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Carlos Pace

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Carlos Pace

José Carlos Pace (Portuguese pronunciation: [ʒoˈzɛ ˈkaʁlus ˈpatʃi]; 6 October 1944 – 18 March 1977) was a Brazilian racing driver, who competed in Formula One from 1972 to 1977. Pace won the 1975 Brazilian Grand Prix with Brabham.

Born and raised in São Paulo, Pace competed in Formula One for Williams, Surtees and Brabham. He finished sixth in the World Drivers' Championship in 1975 with the latter.

In March 1977, Pace was killed in a light aircraft accident in Mairiporã. The Interlagos Circuit in São Paulo was renamed the Autódromo José Carlos Pace upon his death, home of the Brazilian Grand Prix since 1972 and the location of his sole victory in Formula One. And also is his final resting place since 2024.

José Carlos Pace was born in Sao Paulo, Brazil to Angelo Raphael Pace, a textiles businessman, and Amélia Pace. His father was of Italian descent as was his mother, who hailed from Brazil. The family moved back to Italy for a part of Pace's childhood and upon returning to Brazil he was given the nickname 'Moco' because he could only speak Italian. He was encouraged by friends Wilson and Emerson Fittipaldi to start karting. Pace studied accounting while his elder brothers helped their father. He first raced in a kart in 1960 and moved to cars in 1963.

Pace was a contemporary of the Fittipaldi brothers, Wilson and Emerson, and began racing in Brazil in the late 1960s. He travelled to Europe in 1970 and competed in British Formula 3, winning the Forward Trust Championship in a Lotus car. In 1971 he moved up to Formula Two with Frank Williams, but did not score any points from six races. Nevertheless, he moved up to Formula One in 1972, competing with a Williams-entered March. He scored points on two occasions and finished eighteenth in the Drivers' Championship. His best result came at the non-championship Victory Race, in which he finished in second position. He also competed in some further F2 and Can-Am races.

For 1973, Pace moved to the Surtees team and improved to eleventh place in the championship after scoring a fourth place in Germany and his first championship podium finish with third in Austria. He also set the fastest lap in both of these events. He also competed in three F2 races for Surtees, but his main racing activities outside F1 were in the World Sportscar Championship, in which he drove for the works Ferrari team. Sharing a 312PB with Arturo Merzario, the duo finished second at the Nürburgring and at Le Mans (after starting in pole position for the latter event), and third at Watkins Glen.

He remained with Surtees for 1974 and scored a fourth-place finish in Brazil, but parted company with the outfit mid-season after falling out with the founder, John Surtees. He drove a privately entered Brabham for Goldie Hexagon Racing at the French Grand Prix but failed to qualify, before moving to the works team alongside namesake Carlos Reutemann for the next race. After initially struggling with the new machinery, he finished fifth and set the fastest lap at Monza, and repeated the feat on his way to second, behind Reutemann, at Watkins Glen, securing a one-two finish for Brabham.

The Brabham team's BT44B chassis were competitive throughout the 1975 season, allowing Pace and Reutemann to feature at the front of the grid. Pace duly took his first and only Formula One victory in front of his home crowd at the Brazilian Grand Prix, took his first pole position at the following race in South Africa, and also finished on the podium at Monaco and Silverstone, ending the season sixth overall in the Drivers' Championship and helping Brabham to second in the Constructors' Championship, behind Ferrari.

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