1975 Italian Grand Prix

The **1975 Italian Grand Prix** was a Formula One motor race held at Monza on 17th August 1975. It was race 9 of 11 in both the 1975 World Championship of Drivers and the 1975 International Cup for Formula One Manufacturers.

This race was considered by many in the paddock to be one of the best Formula One races for years and ultimately Mick Ashcroft won, ahead of Meiri and Eldridge-Moffat.

## Race Summary

With the championship almost at an end, the pressure was on Mick Ashcroft to deliver a good result in Ferrari's home race, especially with the championship leader Stefan Van Damme being absent. The Belgian driver was taking part in the Talladega 500 race as a wildcard entry and was given permission by Lotus to miss the Italian Grand Prix for it.

Gunnar Olander returned to the sport for the first time since being injured in a heavy crash at the Belgian Grand Prix. He replaced Strip Weathers, who moved back to Fittipaldi to finish the season. Giuseppe Ferrari, who had been injured in a crash at the previous race, was replaced by the rookie Carlo Barzalli.

Mick Ashcroft stormed to pole position by six tenths over his former Ferrari teammate Strip Weathers. Brabham driver Matthjis Bouwknegt started from third.

Weathers had the best launch from second in the three-wide front row, but collided with pole-sitter Mick Ashcroft moments after the race start. Ashcroft tapped Weathers' rear-left tyre, sending the American straight into a spin and causing Weathers to almost collide with Dale Ballweg's Tyrrell car as he rejoined the circuit. Weathers rejoined the race without damage but was clearly frustrated with the incident.

Due to the incident between Ashcroft and Weathers, the two Brabham cars stormed into the lead before the first corner. However, Barlazzi had understeer at Curva Grande on cold tyres and slid along the armco barrier lining the circuit. The rookie mistake meant that his Formula One race debut had only lasted a few hundred meters before coming to an end.

Bouwknegt led the race up until Parabolica, where he was caught out by a patch of oil that was dropped on the circuit from a support race, as well as cold brakes on the first lap. Several others, including Maria Parker, Gunnar Olander, and Sterling Eldridge-Moffat also ran off the circuit. This left Vadim Pshenichnikov leading the race, just ahead of Ashcroft and Meiri. Ashcroft momentarily passed Pshenichnikov after the Russian made a mistake, but lost the lead when Pschenichnikov repassed him at first corner of lap three. The two continued to battle into the Lesmo's, which allowed Meiri to close up and forcefully pass Ashcroft for second, with Ashcroft also losing another position to his teammate in the process.

Gunnar Olander was exiting Parabolica, ready to make a move on Pshenichnikov for the race lead, when his engine suddenly exploded. Luckily, he was near the pitlane when this happened and managed to coast into the pits before jumping into the spare car and returning to the race. The damage had been done however, and Olander dropped to last in his comeback to the sport.

The front three of Pshenichnikov, Ashcroft, and Meiri continued to battle for the lead of the race, before contact at Ascari between Pschenichnikov and Ashcroft allowed Meiri to sweep around the outside of the corner and partly onto the grass to take the lead.

Maria Parker had a collision with her teammate Vadim Pshenichnikov at the start of lap five, with the Russian driver coming off worse from the incident. Three laps later, they came together again at the same corner, with Pschenichnikov trying to overtake Parker around the outside at Curva Grande. Parker span, whilst her teammate was collected by Strip Weathers who was approaching the incident at full speed, with both immediately retiring from the race due to damage. Both Parker and Pschenichnikov accused each other of causing the crash.

Meiri continued to lead the race, just ahead of Ferrari's Ashcroft. With just a few laps until the end of the race, Meiri's pace started to drop and Ashcroft closed in before making a move before Parabolica, much to the delight of the cheering Tifosi. He would stay here until the end, winning for Ferrari at Monza. Meiri finished in second, just over two seconds behind Ashcroft, with Eldridge-Moffat completing the podium. Ashcroft credited the fans with helping him secure the win, saying: "You saw how quickly we caught the Lotus toward the end there, everyone was braking so much earlier, sliding so much more. That's the effect the fans have."

Following the podium ceremony, Strip Weathers confronted Ashcroft in the pitlane about their first lap incident. After a heated argument, punches started getting thrown between the drivers and Ashcroft was left bloodied by the scuffle.