1975 Austrian Grand Prix

The 1975 Austrian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Silverstone on 19th July 1975. It was race 8 of 11 in both the 1975 World Championship of Drivers and the 1975 International Cup for Formula One Manufacturers.
Lotus took the first 1-2 finish of the season, with Stefan Van Damme winning and Nathan Meiri finishing second. Sterling Eldridge-Moffat completed the podium in third. 
== Race Summary ==
Lotus came into the weekend as favourites and their pace was apparent during practice. The fast sweeping corners and straights of the Österreichring suited the Lotus 72E. Meanwhile, McLaren were struggling to gather any momentum in the season and stopped development of the McLaren M23 to focus on the 1976 Formula One season.  
Stefan Van Damme took his fifth pole position in qualifying, beating teammate Nathan Meiri by just under a tenth. Brabham driver Matthjis Bouwknegt was due to take part but fell ill on the morning of the race and withdrew. Eldridge-Moffat had an engine issue during qualifying and decided to start from the back of the grid.  
Van Damme had a slow getaway at the start of the race, allowing Meiri to take the lead. Scott Amor's race would only last a corner as he understeered off the track on cold tyres at Tiroch Kurve and hit the wall, breaking the car's suspension. A corner later, Maria Parker and rookie Dale Ballweg came into contact and both retired from the race due to damage. Meiri let Van Damme pass him at the end of the first lap due to the latter's pace and the championship.  
There was a notable battle between Mick Ashcroft, Giuseppe Ferrari, and Sterling Eldridge-Moffat for much of the race. Ferrari made an aggressive move on lap two against Ashcroft, making contact with the Australian driver but taking third. Ashcroft went wide and lost another two positions to his teammate and Eldridge-Moffat due to the incident.  
On lap three, Eldidge-Moffat passed Strip Weathers for third, with the Ferrari driver not feeling fully confident in his car. There was yet another collision between Ferrari and Ashcroft a few laps later and Ashscroft span but sustained no damage. Later on lap nine, Ferrari went wide on the entry to the Raiffeisenhügel straight and crashed with Ashcroft. Ferrari hit an arm-co barrier and sustained injuries that would keep him from racing for several weeks. Ashcroft's car was damaged in the incident but the Australian limped through to the end of the race, eventually finishing just behind his teammate. Van Damme won the race by over ten seconds over Nathan Meiri, with Eldridge-Moffat finishing third. The Belgian driver was on for a grand-slam but was just denied by Eldridge-Moffat taking the fastest lap.  
Mick Ashcroft left the circuit shortly after the end of the race and refused to answer any questions from the media, clearly angry with how his race went. Giuseppe Ferrari, who eventually finished sixth, apologised to Ashcroft for the incidents they had.  
== Race Classification ==
 
Category:Races