1982 Austrian Grand Prix

The **1982 Austrian Grand Prix**was a Formula One motor race held at Österreichring on 15th August 1982. It was the eleventh race in both the 1982 Drivers' Championship and the 1982 Constructors' Championship.

Chuck Dingley won the race, securing the Drivers' Championship with one race remaining. Ferrari also secured the Constructors' Championship, taking their first title since 1967.

## Qualifying

After receiving an extensive upgrade package, Vivaldo Margheriti took a surprising pole position, 6 tenths ahead of his brother Fabiano.

Championship rivals Stefan Van Damme and Chuck Dingley locked out the second row of the grid, separated by less than a tenth of a second. Veikko Nyquist impressed in 5th, after not scoring a point since the second round of the season.

## Race Summary

The top four maintained their positions off the start, with Vivaldo quickly attempting to build a gap. The Ferrari teammates fought over second into the Tirok Kurve, but Fabiano was able to outbrake Van Damme and maintained the position. Van Damme had a small moment on the exit of the corner, which allowed Dingley past and into third.

On the second lap there was slight contact between Nyquist and Koren in the Bosch Kurve, which sent the Alfa Romeo into a spin in the middle of the racing line. Luckily for him, nobody hit him, and he was able to rejoin the race, albeit down in 12th, while the contact did considerable damage to the left side of Nyquist's Tyrrell. On lap 8 Nyquist lost control of his car in the Texaco Schikane, overcorrecting and crashing into the outside barrier at over 150kph. Nyquist broke his left femur in the crash, and was forced to be airlifted to hospital.

Meanwhile the Margheriti brothers were battling for the lead intensly, until lap 12 when Fabiano tried to outbrake his brother at the end of the Texaco Schikane and ended up overshooting the corner, running off the track into the grass and spinning. The spin cost Fabiano over 20 seconds and dropped him from the lead to 8th.

The pit-stop cycle started on the following lap, and after a slow stop from his Ferrari mechanics, Van Damme dropped behind Dingley. This was crucial for Van Damme, as if Dingley beat him in the race, Dingley would mathematically clinch the championship. Dingley had his sights set on race leader Vivaldo, and after pressuring the Italian for multiple laps, found a way past on the 20th lap. With Dingley leading and Van Damme running in third, desperation started to set in for the Belgian driver as Dingley slowly started to build a gap to second-placed Vivaldo. Van Damme pressured Vivaldo over the final laps, even getting past the Italian in one instance, but was swiftly re-overtaken thanks to the superior straightline speed of the Williams.

Chuck Dingley crossed the line to win and claim his fourth Drivers' Championship in five seasons, with Vivaldo Margheriti and Stefan Van Damme following closely behind to complete the podium. Danilo Koren recovered well from his early spin to take another fourth for Alfa Romeo, while Australians Bruce Kerrigan and Mick Ashcroft completed the points. Fabiano Margheriti looked as if he possibly could have taken 4th from Koren on the final lap, but an engine failure due to overheating ended his race.

## Championship Standings

 2
 3
 4
 5

 2
 3
 4
 5

* Parenthesis denote total points before the application of drop rounds.

## Lap Leaders

Vivaldo Margheriti (Laps 1-3, 13, 15-19)

Fabiano Margheriti (Laps 4-11)

Stefan Van Damme (Lap 12)

Chuck Dingley (Laps 20-26)