Needham Savors Huge Win in Epic NTT French Grand Prix
Circuit Rouen-les-Essarts
Rouen Series Race No. 1
Saturday, March 6, 1999
Race Report
The "Nail That Track" circus pulled up stakes, leaving behind the glitz and
glamour of the crown jewel of the Mediterranean, and headed for the
picturesque forests of France for the French Grand Prix at Circuit
Rouen-les-Essarts. With his affection for Monaco apparent, ever-quotable
Lotus driver Steve Blankenship confided, "it's nice to be out of that
parking garage again, out in the country where the DFV can breathe."
Qualifying for the first race of the Rouen series was marked by a flurry of
last-minute, quick laps. Honda driver Stephan Beck was the first to drop
below the 2:00 benchmark by recording a 1:59.93 with but just over four***
minutes remaining in qualifying. On his next lap, only his third timed lap
of the fast 4.065 mile (6.542 km) circuit, Beck would extend his lead in the
race for the pole by dropping his time to 1:59.88.
But just slightly over a minute later, it was evident that Coventry driver
Rene Beitz had found the magic, grabbing the pole by flashing across the
finish line with a time of 1:58.61. Not to be denied, Team Lotus desperately
made some last minute geometry changes to the car of Matteo Calestani. With
less than 1:40 remaining in qualifying, Calestani began his *first* timed
lap. Qualifying would close before Calestani completed his lap! Yet when he
bolted across the line, clearly Colin Chapman and the other Lotus engineers
had found the answer. The one-lap wonder Calestani had captured the pole
recording a 1:58.55 with no time remaining in qualifying.
Remarkably, the engines of the top two qualifiers succumbed to massive
ignition failures as the field gathered on the grid. So when the green flag
dropped, the next five qualifiers dashed into the perilous first turn in the
order in which they qualified: Beck, Honda teammate Brian Needham, Ferrari's
Graeme Nash, Brabham's Pierre Robitaille, and Coventry's Peter Arnholm.
As nerves relaxed and tires warmed, the front five completed the first lap
with no change in order although Beck was extending his lead and Nash was
progressively closing the gap on Needham in the second Honda. As the leaders
approached the end of the second lap, the pressure on Needham was too great
and he pushed his braking point for the tight, straight-ending Scierie turn
a bit too far. As Needham slid off into the grass outside of Scierie, the
talented young Brit, Nash, scampered into second position.
On the third lap, Nash, anxious to make contact with the escaping Beck,
pushed too hard, dropped a wheel off outside of the sweeping right-hand
first turn, and executed the oft-seen spin up the banking on the outside of
the turn. Nash's Ferrari was left with a loose cowling from the excursion
and he was forced to pull off just past the Nouveau Monde hairpin to secure
the threatening cowling. The series of events provided very costly for Nash
who saw his position drop from second to eighth once he had clear track and
could once again be on his way. The order at the front now stood: Beck,
Robitaille, Arnholm, Needham, and Lotus driver Dave Lung.
Four laps later, Robitaille and his Brabham would inherit the lead when Beck
would duplicate the earlier error of his teammate at Scierie. Beck would
recover from his rendezvous with the grass to find third place Arnholm glued
to his gearbox. It was still very much anyone's race.
For nine more laps, only seconds would separate the front four, as the crowd
enjoyed epic racing. By this reporter's count, the turnaway crowd witnessed
five lead changes and seven*** position changes among the front four during
those nine laps alone.
As they entered the seven***th and final lap, the Honda team hoped for a
1-2 sweep as the order was now: Beck, Needham, Arnholm, and Robitaille, all
still only separated by seconds. And the epic was about to become the
unimaginable!
Here's what we witnessed: As the pair of lead Hondas screams down the back
straight and through the perilous near 170-mph Gresil sweeper, Beck pushes a
little too hard to insure his win and drops both left tires onto the grass
on the exit from the right-hand sweeper. Amazingly, Needham, seemingly
hypnotized by his teammate's gearbox, follows Beck right out onto to the
grass! As the two lead Hondas execute nearly parallel slides down the
top-gear, full-throttle straight, Arnholm, watching all this unfold just
yards ahead, struggles to reel in his Coventry so that he doesn't become
part of the disaster that is besetting Team Honda. Miraculously, Needham,
now almost perpendicular to the track, manages to catch his slide before the
now hard-braking Arnholm has an opportunity to pass. But Beck doesn't share
in the good fortune as he slides helplessly off into the grass on the right
side of the track. Finally, Robitaille, in a desperate effort to catch the
recovering Beck for third, goes well off into the grass in the *last* turn
before the finish line. Dave Lung cruises home to fourth as Robitaille
wrestles his Brabham back onto the racing surface.
An incredible conclusion to a Grand Prix battle of truly epic proportions!
Official Standings
1 0 B. Needham MUR 118.2 mph
2 17 P. Arnholm COV 1.49
3 0 S. Beck MUR 5.80
4 0 D. Lung LOT 41.88
5 0 P. Robitaille REP 47.67
6 14 D. Chicane BRM 50.44
7 16 D. Ewing LOT 1:55.81
8 4 J. Rambo FER -1L
9 0 G. Nash FER -9L
10 0 J. Taylor LOT -10L
11 0 D. Pillost REP -13L
12 0 B. Davis EAG -16L
Fastest Lap
17 P. Arnholm COV 1:59.33
Practice
1 0 M. Calestani LOT 1:58.55
2 0 R. Beitz COV 1:58.61
3 0 S. Beck MUR 1:59.88
4 0 B. Needham MUR 2:00.94
5 0 G. Nash FER 2:01.33
6 0 P. Robitaille REP 2:01.44
7 17 P. Arnholm COV 2:01.56
8 0 D. Lung LOT 2:02.37
9 14 D. Chicane BRM 2:02.41
10 16 D. Ewing LOT 2:04.85
11 4 J. Rambo FER 2:07.32
12 0 D. Pillost REP 2:08.81
13 0 T. Wheatley FER 2:13.78
14 0 J. Taylor LOT 2:24.47
15 0 H. Rogster EAG 2:29.52
16 0 B. Davis EAG 2:47.51