1982 British Grand Prix

The **1982 British Grand Prix**was a Formula One motor race held at Donington Park on 18th July 1982. It was the eighth race in both the 1982 Drivers' Championship and the 1982 Constructors' Championship.

## Background

This event saw the return of Williams driver Vivaldo Margheriti after he sustained a near-fatal crash in the 1982 Belgian Grand Prix. Margheriti had taken part in evaluations a week before the race and was cleared to race, despite still suffering considerable pain. Sid Donnelly, who had replaced Margheriti after Belgium, moved to McLaren to replace the injured Santiago Reyes. Reyes had broken his femur in the United States Grand Prix North after a high-speed crash at The Kink.

Laurent Leroux and Strip Weathers picked up qualifying bans after several incidents in the previous race and were therefore forced to start from the pitlane.

The South Korean driver Kun-woo Chang also made his debut for Renault.

## Qualifying

Chuck Dingley and Stefan Van Damme were untypically off the pace during practice after trialling new car parts. Both drivers opted to give the new parts to their teammates after practice after being unsatisfied with the supposed improvements.

Fabiano Margheriti qualified in pole position and was the only driver able to set a laptime below the 1:14 mark, with Émilie Levesque qualifying half a second off the Ferrari driver. Chuck Dingley and Stefan Van Damme lined up in 3rd and 4th, with Bruce Kerrigan setting an impressive time to qualify 5th in his Arrows.

## Race Summary

Fabiano led the field away, with the front cars maintaining their positions off the race start. Further back, Sid Donnelly made contact with the Alfa Romeo of Danilo Koren at McLean's. Donnelly span into the gravel but continued on into the race.

Fabiano and Levesque pulled out a slight gap in the early laps of the race, with Dingley and Van Damme staying closely matched behind. Kerrigan was in 5th with a large gap back to Vivaldo Margheriti, who was struggling to find pace in the early stages of the race. On lap six, Levesque's gearbox jammed at Coppice and he was forced to retire. At the end of the next lap, Sid Donnelly and Armando Munos came together at the final corner. Munos had lit up the rear tyres on the exit of the corner which had caught out Donnelly in the process. Both cars span towards the pitlane and hit the wall, being forced to retire in the process.

Fabiano had the pace advantage over Dingley and Van Damme and extended his gap in the lead until lap 13 when his gearbox also jammed at Coppice. Margheriti was almost ready to retire the car until he somhow resolved the problem and got back up to speed. However it had cost him over 10 seconds and the lead of the race.

Most of the field pitted at the midpoint of the race, with Dingley overcutting Van Damme by a lap to emerge around five seconds ahead of the Belgian driver, with Fabiano Margheriti in 3rd. On lap 16, Mick Ashcroft span at the Old Hairpin, collecting the Williams of William O'Conner, who had tried his best to avoid the out-of-control Brabham. Ashcroft had spent much of his race behind Vivaldo Margheriti but had been unable to find a way past.

With just 10 laps until the finish, Van Damme started to close the gap on his championship rival Chuck Dingley, who was leading the race by under five seconds at this point. Dingley had flatspotted a tyre at the Melbourne hairpin, giving him an uncomfortable vibration for the remainder of the race. Fabiano Margheriti was lapping half a second faster than both leading drivers. As they started the final lap of the race they were separated by under a second. Shortly after lapping the Tyrrell of Veikko Nyquist, Dingley locked up at the chicane and ran slightly deep, giving Van Damme a better run through the corner and the inside for the Melbourne hairpin. Van Damme took the lead of the race with just a corner to go and as Dingley locked up at the final corner, Fabiano took advantage and grabbed 2nd.

The three drivers were separated by under half a second at the line. It was Van Damme's third win of the season and it brought him to within two points of Dingley in the championship. Bruce Kerrigan finished 4th in Arrows' best result of the year so far, with Danilo Koren finishing 5th after a race-long battle with Vivaldo Margheriti and Mick Ashcroft. Vivaldo finished in 6th in his return to the sport, an outstanding achievement considering the pain he was still suffering. He was unable to attend post-race media duties due to exhaustion and required help from the team to get out of his car following the race.

## Championship Standings

 2
 3
 4
 5

 2
 3
 4
 5

## Lap Leaders

Fabiano Margheriti (Laps 1-12, 17)

Chuck Dingley (Laps 13-16, 18-29)

Stefan Van Damme (Lap 30)