1978 French Grand Prix

The **1978 French Grand Prix** was a Formula One motor race held at Dijon-Prenois on 2nd May 1978. It was the sixth race in both the 1978 World Championship of Drivers and the 1978 International Cup for Formula One Manufacturers.

Richard Jockey took Ferrari's first race win of the season, followed by his teammate Gervais Trémaux and Lotus' Stefan Van Damme.

## Background

Max Westland was replaced by Richard Harford for this race weekend, after Westland broke his leg in a crash in the San Marino Grand Prix.

Despite breaking his leg during the previous race, Győző Szél elected to take part in the weekend of the French Grand Prix, with doctors prescribing him heavy painkillers in order to race.

## Qualifying

On Saturday morning, a fire started in the Brabham garage. Tempestini's car was completely destroyed in the blaze and W-S' car was heavily damaged, leaving the team with no choice but to withdraw from the event.

Despite taking part in practice, Chuck Dingley mysteriously disappeared from the circuit just before qualifying. The American driver, who had won the last two races, was last seen leaving the circuit with a small entourage and family members. Dingley's teammate, Dale Ballweg, was due to start qualifying but was unable to reach the circuit, effectively stopping Tyrrell from taking part in the race weekend.

The main qualifying battle was between Stefan Van Damme and Gervais Trémaux, with Trémaux initially setting the fastest lap time. With moments until the end of the session, Van Damme completed a scrappy but fast lap that saw him take his first pole position since the South African Grand Prix. Trémaux lined up 2nd, with Jockey and Spocinklass on the 2nd row. Michael Géni had a hard crash during one of his laps, giving him a concussion but he insisted on racing the next day.

## Race Summary

The starting tyres of the entire grid were mixed for the first time this season, due to the high tyre degradation of the Dijon Circuit as well as the hot weather on race day. Many drivers had elected to start on the hard tyre, which would complete the full race distance without requiring a pitstop, whilst others chose the more aggressive strategy of starting on the soft tyre and pitting.

Richard Jockey had a lightning start from 3rd and immediately passed both Trémaux and Van Damme before the first corner. Due to the wake produced by Jockey's car, Trémaux' car understeered straight into Van Damme, who was on the outside of the long Double-Droite de Villeroy corner. Trémaux span and fell down the order, whilst Van Damme went through the gravel trap. Both cars picked up damage in the incident, with Van Damme losing some of his car's skirt, which was instrumental in producing downforce. Van Damme's start would go further downhill after another colliding with Nathan Meiri at Parabolique, sending the Belgian driver to the back of the field. Scott Amor had a great start and had moved up to 4th due to avoiding incidents, before he himself made a mistake and span on the second lap.

Jockey had built a sizeable lead in the following laps before pitting on lap 14 and emerging in 4th behind Strip Weathers and Lotus' Jeremy Spocinklass. He quickly caught and passed both drivers due to the advantage of fresh tyres. His teammate Gervais Trémaux was leading the race and started on the hard tyres, with no scheduled pitstop. Eventually, on lap 20, Jockey passed him on the straight, much to the shock of the Frenchman and Ferrari team, who had told the young driver to maintain position due to Trémaux' position in the championship.

Jockey ignored multiple pitboard messages to let Trémaux through and went on to win the race. Trémaux finished just under five seconds behind, with Van Damme in 3rd after a recovery drive. Spocinklass was due to finish 4th, but suffered a rear tyre delamination at the final corner of the final lap and span, gifting the position to Strip Weathers. Pshenichnikov finished in 6th.

## Post-Race

Despite a 1-2 finish, tensions ran high at Ferrari following Jockey's refusal to allow Trémaux through for the race win. Trémaux had argued that he was the number one driver in the team and deserved to win due to the tight title fight with Van Damme and Dingley. Jockey was adamant that he was right and said after the race: "Ferrari and Gervais can stuff it if they think I'm going to sacrifice my first win for the team."

## Classification

Fastest lap: Richard Jockey (Ferrari) on lap 17 - 1:08.780

## Lap Leaders

Richard Jockey (Laps 1 - 14, 20 - 25)

Gervais Trémaux (Laps 15 - 19)