1978-1979 – Formula 1 (Vol 4)

1978-1979 – The Turbo Arrives

Volume 4 of our 1978-1979 Formula 1 Series contains more original films and
videos from the Turbo era of Formula 1 racing. Volume 4 is another
excellent reference for how F1 races were run back in the 70’s.

1978 – Didier Pironi – in-car (4 min.)
One lap around the Hockenheim circuit with Tyrrell driver Didier Peroni.

1978 – Patrick DePailler – in-car (2 min.)
One lap around the Rio de Janeiro circuit with Tyrrell driver Patrick DePailler.

1978 – Didier Pironi – in-car (2 min.)
One lap around the Watkins Glen, NY circuit with Tyrrell driver Didier Peroni.

1978 – Niki Lauda – in-car (4 min.)
One lap around the Zolder, Belgium circuit with Brabham driver Niki Lauda.

1979 Argentine Grand Prix (43 min.)  
Edited live BBC highlights of the 1979 Argentine Grand Prix, commentary by Murray Walker. The opening
race of the 1979 season! The Ligier team would be on the front row with Jacques Laffite and his teammate
Patrick Depailler. As the race began, John Watson (McLaren) collided with Jody Scheckter (Ferrari) creating
chaos behind. Four other cars were collected (including Andretti and Nelson Piquet, who was taken to the
hospital) and the race was red-flagged. When the race restarted it was DePailler off into the lead with
Jean-Pierre Jarier’s (Tyrrell) behind. Jacques Laffite would take the lead from Depailler and the two Ligiers
drove away. Laffite won easily. Excellent coverage!

1979 Brazilian Grand Prix (12 min.)  
The second round of the season, held at the 5-mile Interlagos circuit in São Paulo; the longest circuit on
the calendar. Laffite again takes pole with Depailler alongside. Laffite would win easily, Depailler was 2nd,
and Carlos Reutemann 3rd. Excellent coverage again with Murray Walker on commentary.

1979 Race Of Champions (45 min.)  
A non-points race held at the Brands Hatch circuit in Great Britain. The field was made up of seven
Formula One cars that competed in the World championship while the rest of the field was from the
Aurora/AFX series. Murray Walker on commentary. Excellent footage and great action, with Gilles
Villeneuve taking the win, Nelson Piquet second, and Mario Andretti third.

1979 French Grand Prix (27 min.)  
Another excellent race, and again these are live edited highlights of the race with Murray Walker on
commentary. The French Grand Prix was held at the very fast Dijon-Prenois circuit in eastern France. It
was an all-French front row, but instead of the usual Ligiers, it was the two turbocharged Renaults who
were in dominant form, Jean-Pierre Jabouille on pole ahead of René Arnoux and Villeneuve. At the start,
Villeneuve beat Jabouille into the first corner, with Scheckter third after Arnoux had a bad start. As the
front two began to drive away from the field, Arnoux began a charge up the order, and by mid-race he
was back in third. In the second half of the race, the two Renaults found another gear, and Jabouille
drove past Villeneuve to take the lead, and Arnoux began to close him down and caught him with four
laps left. Jabouille won, but the drama was the epic battle between Villeneuve and Arnoux for second
place as they banged wheels and passed each other repeatedly on the last lap.

1979 British Grand Prix (70 min.)  
The second half of the year started in Britain at the fastest circuit of the year, the airfield Silverstone
circuit 90 minutes north of London. James Hunt was now retired and joined Murray Walker in the
broadcast booth for the first time, and a rare appearance by Jackie Stewart rounds out the commentary.
The Williams FW07 had found new speed with some modifications to correct aerodynamic leakage, and
Alan Jones qualified on pole. Jones led into the first corner ahead of Jabouille, with Regazzoni up to
third. The front three ran in the same order until Jabouille ran into tire trouble and had to pit, leaving
Regazzoni second and Arnoux third. Jones looked set to win but he had to retire with an overheating
engine, so Regazzoni took the lead and went on to win, giving the Williams team their first ever F1
victory, with Arnoux second and Jean-Pierre Jarier third.

1979 Dutch Grand Prix (35 min.)  
F1 arrived at the beach-side Zandvoort circuit near Amsterdam, and the fast Zandvoort circuit had
been modified with an awkward chicane placed between both of the most dangerous parts of the
track, the very fast Hondenvlak and Tunnel Oost corners. Rene Arnoux (Renault) took pole
followed by Alan Jones in the Williams. The start was chaotic as Arnoux and Regazzoni tangled
and were eliminated, and Jones took the lead. Jones and Villeneuve battled, and then Villeneuve
spun at the new chicane after going wide and tore up his rear suspension, but he managed to drive
around the circuit in dramatic to get back to the pits. Alan Jones ends up winning the race followed
by Jody Scheckter and Jacques Laffite. Commentary by Murray Walker.

1979 Italian Grand Prix (24 min.)  
This was a great day for Ferrari as Jody Scheckter and Gilles Villeneuve made it a Ferrari 1-2. With this
victory Scheckter won the driver’s championship and Ferrari won the constructor’s championship with a
car that proved to have a 100% reliability record thus far; an incredible achievement in 1979.
Commentary by Murray Walker and the always entertaining James Hunt.