1991 Race One Digest

# South African Grand Prix

*Leigh Edwardson Reporting*

Round One is behind us, a spectacular incident-marred race with accidents, clashes, spins and lots of on-track action. Margheriti took the win for Ferrari ahead of Wilson's McLaren and Wolff in the Benetton. However, it wasn't without drama; Wilson collided with Ventura during a squabble for 2nd, ending the Brazilian's race, only being classified due to the proximity to the checkered flag. Also notable, the impressive performance from Roy in the Fondmetal managing to capture points, albeit a lap down, and a top 5 for Navarro & Makkinen in their new teams. We catch up with Ventura and Wilson to shed light on the incident prior to practice for Ventura's home race, Brazil.

*Eduardo, it's your home race, and the Williams seems strong. Do you think you can challenge for the win at Interlagos?*

> For sure, everyone see that we have a great car this year, is easy to drive and looks after the tyres so that will help me to maybe try some strategies that others cannot, we will see. I hope Otto will be there too for some good championship points, but for sure I will be going for the win this weekend. Is what I do every weekend, haha, but with the home fans, and how good the car is feeling I think we have a great chance.
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*You were classified just 9th at Kyalami after the incident with Wilson. Can you share with us what happened from your perspective?*

> The Kyalami race was great to be honest, we take a lot of positives away despite the result, I think we had the pace to challenge the win for sure.
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> The incident, ah, I see the replay and people say to me how Wilson did not get a penalty, but I think it was just a racing incident, you know. My tyres were just gone, I was very slow and he was I think two second faster on the lap to catch me? I did not expect the move but I cover the inside so when he go for it there was very little room, and the contact was very unlucky to send me off like that.
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> I say after the race this same thing. Is last lap, we both are world champions, he has to go for the move and I have to defend, I not have any hard feelings for a driver who is racing as hard as they can.
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*A measured response. Having completed most of the race, your pace seemed strong, and the car strong to match. Do you think a championship run ala 1987 is on the cards?*

> If we can keep up with developing the car, yeah for sure we can win the championship. I did this before with Williams, we have struggle for a few years but now we have Adrian designing the car and he do an amazing job, really amazing. So I think we all feel really confident, but is important to keep pushing so we can stay on top. We all know Margheriti and Wilson are driving their best ever too so whatever happen, it will not be easy.
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*Thanks Eduardo! Good luck in Brazil.* *We would like to note that the interview with Eduardo was conducted prior to Wilson's prickly interview with the Daily Express, and neither driver could be reached for further contact. We at the BBC will be monitoring the rivalry if or when it develops.*

After a second drama-filled race, Ventura won to the delight of the Brazilian crowd. Makkinen scored a podium on his second outing with Williams, and rookie Burguet netted an impressive P3 to round out the podium positions. R1 winner Margheriti would have to settle for P8 after running out of fuel - with Kyalami runner up Wilson taking 4th place and the lead of the championship in the process. With a massive 11 retirements, the race threw up a few surprise results, namely Marques scoring a point for the first time since Brazil 1990 and Roy once again netting some good points in the Fondmetal. It's too early for transfer rumours, however, Austrian energy drinks company Red Bull, has signed Søren Vinter for a personal sponsorship and endorsement agreement ahead of the 1991 San Marino Grand Prix, making this a particularly a lucrative season for the Norwegian. We catch up with championship leader Wilson and podium finisher Burguet for their thoughts prior to qualifying for Imola.

*Jordi, P3 for Tyrrell! What does this podium mean for you?*

> It's an amazing result, we really didn't expect to have this much pace here as the car struggles a bit in the traction zones so it feels amazing to be fighting with theese guys. On the other hand, we feel that this is what we deserved at Kyalami as well. Also getting a podium on your second F1 race is always a good thing!
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*The race was quite chaotic, but you still beat both Ferraris and both McLarens. Do you think you can repeat the feat in Imola?*

> I don't know to be honest... It's not a track where I'm particularly good at, so we'll have to wait and see, and as I said the car struggles in the traction zones, and Imola has a lot of those. We'll just have to try and keep everyone behind and defend as much as possible if we want to get some points.
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*Thanks, Jordi!*
*Jack, you now lead the championship. Did you really expect that from a P4? How can you kick on for Imola and the mighty Monaco from here?*

> I'm happy to be leading the championship after Fabi's retirement but I was honestly disappointed to lose out on a podium finish as we lost out on a few points there. We've got a car that can win races this year, but it just hasn't happened yet for various reasons. I'm really looking forward to the next two races though. The team have upgrades planned for Imola which should address some of the issues we've had. Imola and Monaco are also two of my favourite tracks on the calendar so I'm confident that we can get great results there.
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*It would seem Ventura was quite cordial about your incident, though hasn't been reached for comment since your interview. Any further insights on that?*

> "I talked to Eduardo on the phone after the Brazil race and we cleared things over between us so there's no hard feelings at all. I was sorry that he retired from the incident but he understood why I made that move at that point."
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*Thanks, Jack.*