# Carlos Pace

José Carlos Pace (Portuguese pronunciation:; 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.

## Career

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.
He remained with Brabham for 1976, but the car was much less competitive due to a change of engine, from Ford-Cosworth to Alfa Romeo. The Italian flat 12 units were larger, heavier, less reliable and less economical than their V8 predecessors, restricting Pace to fourteenth place in the championship, whilst Reutemann left the team before the end of the season.
By the start of the 1977 season, the competitiveness and durability of the Alfa engines had been much improved for Pace and his new teammate, John Watson. He demonstrated this fact by taking second position at the season opener in Argentina, and running strongly in the next two Grands Prix before suffering from mechanical trouble, but he was unable to capitalise on the improved performance for the rest of the season due to his sudden death.

## Death and honours

Pace was killed in a private light aircraft accident near São Paulo, Brazil on 18 March 1977, 13 days after fellow F1 driver Tom Pryce and marshal Jansen Van Vuuren lost their lives during the 1977 South African Grand Prix. The Interlagos track, the scene of his only F1 win in 1975, was renamed Autódromo José Carlos Pace in his honour. Pace was buried in Cemitério do Araçá, São Paulo where his mausoleum went through severe degradation until July 2024, when his body was removed from the cemetery and buried under a bust placed near the main entrance of the Interlagos circuit.
In the 1977 motorsport film Bobby Deerfield, the eponymous title character is represented by Pace in the racing scenes.

## Racing record
### Career summary

| Season | Series | Team | Races | Wins | Poles | F/Laps | Podiums | Points | Position |
| 1970 | BRSCC Lombank British Formula Three | Jim Russell Racing Driver School | 13 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 7 | 43 | 3rd |
| 1970 | BRSCC Motorsport/Shell British Formula Three | Jim Russell Racing Driver School | 11 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 22 | 5th |
| 1970 | BARC Forward Trust British Formula Three | Jim Russell Racing Driver School | 11 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 41 | 1st |
| 1971 | European Formula Two | Frank Williams Motul March | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | NC |
| 1972 | Formula One | Team Williams Motul | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 18th |
| 1972 | European Formula Two | Pygmée Racing Team | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 15th |
| 1972 | Can-Am | Advanced Vehicle Systems | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 15th |
| 1973 | Formula One | Brooke Bond Oxo Team Surtees | 14 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 11th |
| 1973 | World Sportscar Championship | Ferrari SEFAC SpA | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | NC |
| 1973 | European Formula Two | Surtees Racing | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | NC |
| 1973 | 24 Hours of Le Mans | Ferrari SEFAC SpA | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | N/A | 2nd |
| 1974 | Formula One | Motor Racing Developments | 6 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 11 | 12th |
| 1974 | Formula One | Bang & Olufsen Team Surtees | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 12th |
| 1974 | Formula One | Team Surtees | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 12th |
| 1975 | Formula One | Martini Racing | 14 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 24 | 6th |
| 1976 | Formula One | Martini Racing | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 14th |
| 1977 | Formula One | Martini Racing | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 15th |

### Complete Formula One World Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position / Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Entrant | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | WDC | Points |
| 1972 | Team Williams Motul | March 711 | Cosworth V8 | ARG | RSA 17 | ESP 6 | MON 17 | BEL 5 | FRA Ret | GBR Ret | GER NC | AUT NC | ITA Ret | CAN 9 | USA Ret | | | | | | 18th | 3 |
| 1973 | Brooke Bond Oxo Team Surtees | Surtees TS14A | Cosworth V8 | ARG Ret | BRA Ret | RSA Ret | ESP Ret | BEL 8 | MON Ret | SWE 10 | FRA 13 | GBR Ret | NED 7 | GER 4 | AUT 3 | ITA Ret | CAN 18 | USA Ret | | | 11th | 7 |
| 1974 | Team Surtees | Surtees TS16 | Cosworth V8 | ARG Ret | BRA 4 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 12th | 11 |
| 1974 | Bang & Olufsen Team Surtees | Surtees TS16 | Cosworth V8 | | | RSA 11 | ESP 13 | BEL Ret | MON Ret | SWE Ret | NED | | | | | | | | | | 12th | 11 |
| 1974 | Goldie Hexagon Racing | Brabham BT42 | Cosworth V8 | | | | | | | | | FRA DNQ | | | | | | | | | 12th | 11 |
| 1974 | Motor Racing Developments | Brabham BT44 | Cosworth V8 | | | | | | | | | | GBR 9 | GER 12 | AUT Ret | ITA 5 | CAN 8 | USA 2 | | | 12th | 11 |
| 1975 | Martini Racing | Brabham BT44B | Cosworth V8 | ARG Ret | BRA 1 | RSA 4 | ESP Ret | MON 3 | BEL 8 | SWE Ret | NED 5 | FRA Ret | GBR 2 | GER Ret | AUT Ret | ITA Ret | USA Ret | | | | 6th | 24 |
| 1976 | Martini Racing | Brabham BT45 | Alfa Romeo Flat-12 | BRA 10 | RSA Ret | USW 9 | ESP 6 | BEL Ret | MON 9 | SWE 8 | FRA 4 | GBR 8 | GER 4 | AUT Ret | NED Ret | ITA Ret | CAN 7 | USA Ret | JPN Ret | | 14th | 7 |
| 1977 | Martini Racing | Brabham BT45 | Alfa Romeo Flat-12 | ARG 2 | BRA Ret | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 15th | 6 |
| 1977 | Martini Racing | Brabham BT45B | Alfa Romeo Flat-12 | | | RSA 13 | USW | ESP | MON | BEL | SWE | FRA | GBR | GER | AUT | NED | ITA | USA | CAN | JPN | 15th | 6 |
| Source: |||||||||||||||||||||||

### Complete Formula One Non-Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position / Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Entrant | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
| 1972 | Team Williams Motul | March 711 | Cosworth V8 | ROC | BRA Ret | INT | OUL | REP | |
| 1972 | Team Surtees | Surtees TS9B | Cosworth V8 | | | | | | VIC 2 |
| 1973 | Brooke Bond Oxo Team Surtees | Surtees TS14A | Cosworth V8 | ROC | INT Ret | | | | |
| 1974 | Team Surtees | Surtees TS16 | Cosworth V8 | PRE 9 | ROC | INT | | | |
| 1975 | Martini Racing | Brabham BT44B | Cosworth V8 | ROC | INT | SUI 6 | | | |
| 1976 | Martini Racing | Brabham BT45 | Alfa Romeo Flat-12 | ROC Ret | INT 9 | | | | |

### Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results

| Year | Team | Co-Drivers | Car | Class | Laps | Pos. | Class Pos. |
| 1973 | Ferrari SEFAC SpA | Arturo Merzario | Ferrari 312PB Ferrari 312 F12 2991cc | S3.0 | 349 | 2nd | 2nd |