1975 Belgian Grand Prix

The 1975 Belgian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Zolder on 27th April 1975. It was race 4 of 11 in both the 1975 World Championship of Drivers and the 1975 International Cup for Formula One Manufacturers.[3] The race was held over 14 laps of the four kilometre venue.
The race was won by Stefan Van Damme, who took his third victory from four races. Several drivers had heavy crashes during this race, with Alex Robin Plunkett losing his life after a crash on the first lap.
== Race Summary ==
Mick Ashcroft started from pole position for the first time in his Formula One career, with Stefan Van Damme and Alex Robin Plunkett lining up behind. The Australian driver put in an impressive lap to qualify over 7 tenths ahead of Van Damme.
The start of the race was initially clean, with Van Damme overtaking Ashcroft around the outside of turn one to take the lead. Ashcroft lit up his tyres at the exit of the corner and temporarily lost second to his teammate Gunnar Olander. Heading onto the back straight, Alex Plunkett lost control of his car and span across the track. Nathan Meiri was unable to react in time and slammed into the side of Plunkett's car. Although Meiri was able to continue, the side impact to Plunkett was too much and he passed away shortly after the impact.
At the end of that lap, Gunnar Olander clipped a kerb at the exit of the last corner and span towards the pitlane. His car hit the pitlane wall and the Ferrari driver had to spend several minutes in the pits for repairs. He would rejoin the race, but had another huge crash at turn six as another car was returning to the track. Olander survived the impact, but broke his feet and suffered a concussion as well as other injuries to his legs. It is expected that he will return to racing in several months around the Italian GP.
Jorge Fernandez crashed at the final corner as his brakes failed on lap ten. His car smashed through the catch fencing, injuring one spectator and killing another. Fernandez was injured in the crash but expected to recover from his injuries to return to racing.
Van Damme controlled the race at the front, finishing just under ten seconds ahead of Mick Ashcroft. After just missing out on a podium in the previous round, Strip Weathers finished third. Ferrari were impressed by Weathers' speed and results and hired him on a temporary basis to replace the injured Gunnar Olander.
== Classification ==
Pos	Driver 	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1 	Stefan Van Damme 	Lotus 	14 	19:10.075 	2 	9
2 	Mick Ashcroft 	Ferrari 	14 	1 	6 	
3 	Strip Weathers 	Fittipaldi 	14 	5 	4 	
4 	Nathan Meiri 	Lotus 	14 	6 	3 	
5 	Matthijs Bouwknegt 	Brabham 	14 	7 	2 	
6 	Maria Parker 	McLaren 	14 	8 	1 	
7 	Max Westland 	Shadow 	13 	11 	 	
8 	Gunnar Olander 	Ferrari 	12 	4 	 	
9 	Jorge Fernandez 	Williams 	9 	Crash/Brakes	10 	
10 	Tor Sorli 	Williams 	4 	Crash 	9 	
11 	Alex Robin Plunkett	Tyrrell 	0 	Fatal Crash 	3 	
Category:Races