Carlos Pace

Carlos Pace

Nation:	Brazil
Automobile world championship
First start:	1972 South African Grand Prix
Last start:	1977 South African Grand Prix
Constructors
1972  Williams  · 1973–1974  Surtees  · 1974–1977  Brabham
statistics
World Cup balance:	World Cup sixth ( 1975 )
Starts Victories Poles SR 72 1 1 4th
World Cup points :	58
Podiums :	6th
Leadership laps :	49 over 290 km

José Carlos Pace (born October 6, 1944 in São Paulo , Brazil ; † March 18, 1977 in Mairiporã , São Paulo ) drove in Formula 1 from 1972 to 1977 .

José Carlos Pace's parents were of Italian descent and moved back to Italy for a short time after his birth. A few years later they moved back to Brazil. Pace didn't have an easy situation at the time because he only spoke Italian and no Portuguese. He got his nickname "Moco" (the hearing impaired) not only because of his calm manner, but also because of his language difficulties.

First motorsport experience

Pace began karting at a young age, during which time he met the two Fittipaldis, Wilson and Emerson . In 1963 he started with a Renault Gordini in motor racing and switched to formula racing in 1966. He was very successful and was Brazilian racing champion from 1967 to 1969. Pace's search for a greater challenge began. He found what he was looking for in England's Formula 3 scene , where Emerson Fittipaldi had already made a good impression, making it easier for Pace and Wilson Fittipaldi to get started. In his first year, Pace became British Formula 3 champion.

Formula racing

For the time being, however, he was denied access to the higher classes. Pace needed sponsorship money, which he had to “beg” in 1971 in Brazil. With his financial cushion in his back, he also got a cockpit in Formula 2 , he joined Frank Williams' team as a driver. Impressed by the Brazilian’s successes, Williams secured him a place in Formula 1 the following year. He contested the first two races on a hopelessly inferior March of the previous year and still scored points. In his next race he received a current March and was promptly fifth. During the season he drove regularly in the front midfield.

formula 1

Parallel to his Formula 1 outings, Pace started together with Arturo Merzario in a Ferrari in the endurance world championship. In 1973 he moved to Surtees , which turned out to be a mistake. The construction of the Surtees cars could not keep up with the rapid development of Formula 1.

Carlos Pace in the 1973 1000 km race on the Nürburgring

Pace fought with blunt weapons and grew increasingly dissatisfied. In the middle of the 1974 season he accepted an offer, he switched to Brabham rather surprisingly . Bernie Ecclestone had already contacted Pace in the run-up to the season. When the change came about, the places in the works team were already occupied by Carlos Reutemann and Rikky from Opel . So Pace drove in the private Hexagon Brabham. But things didn't go any better here than at Surtees before. Luck came to the rescue of Pace: Rikky from Opel stepped down as a driver, and Pace was in the works car in his second race for Brabham. Right away he drove to the front seats.

The year 1975 was to begin even more successfully. In the home Grand Prix he started from the third row and in the race he was in second position behind the surprisingly leading Jean-Pierre Jarier . When Jarier had to end the race with a defect, Pace took the lead and never gave it up until the finish. In the further season he established himself in the ranks of the top drivers. In the middle of the season, the tide turned in favor of the Ferraris from Lauda and Regazzoni . From this point on, the two Ferraris dominated the races at will, so that at the end of the season only a disappointing 24 championship points remained for Pace.

Failures with Brabham

In the next season, the Brabham team relied on a new engine manufacturer. Alfa Romeo had developed a 12-cylinder that was expected to keep up with the Ferraris. However, reality taught Ecclestone and his team better, the Alfa engines were not stable enough and Brabham regularly followed the lead in the races. Reutemann switched to Ferrari that season, disappointed, but Pace got it into his head to make the Brabham competitive. In the winter of 1976/77 he worked with the engineers like a man possessed. The 77 Brabham built on the success of the 75 model, so that Brabham and Pace were back at the front.

The accident

On March 18, 1977, Pace flew his wife and daughters to his ranch near São Paulo . He didn't fly back himself, but in a friend's plane. In a severe thunderstorm, the pilot must have lost their orientation and the plane crashed. None of the occupants survived the accident. The Brazilian President declared three days of mourning , and later the Interlagos circuit , where Pace celebrated his only Grand Prix victory, was renamed the “Autodromo José Carlos Pace”.

statistics

Statistics in the automobile world championship

Grand Prix victories

• 1975 Brazilian Grand Prix ( Interlagos ) 

general overview

season	team	chassis	engine	run	Victories	Second	Third	Poles	nice Race laps	Points	WM-Pos.
1972	STP March Racing Team	March 711	Ford Cosworth 3.0 V8	11	-	-	-	-	-	3	18th
1973	Team Surtees	Surtees TS14A	Ford Cosworth 3.0 V8	15th	-	-	1	-	2	7th	11.
1974	Team Surtees	Surtees TS16	Ford Cosworth 3.0 V8	7th	-	-	-	-	-	3	12.
	Motor Racing Developments	Brabham BT44	Ford Cosworth 3.0 V8	6th	-	1	-	-	2	8th
1975	Martini Racing	Brabham BT44B	Ford Cosworth 3.0 V8	14th	1	1	1	1	1	24	6th
1976	Martini Racing	Brabham BT45	Alfa Romeo 3.0 B12	16	-	-	-	-	-	7th	14th
1977	Martini Racing	Brabham BT45 / BT45B	Alfa Romeo 3.0 B12	3	-	1	-	-	-	6th	15th
total				72	1	3	2	1	5	58

Single results

season	1	2	3	4th	5	6th	7th	8th	9	10	11	12	13	14th	15th	16	17th
1972
		17th	6th	17th	5	DNF	DNF	NC	NC	DNF	9	DNF
1973
	DNF	DNF	DNF	DNF	8th	DNF	10	13	DNF	7th	4th	3	DNF	18 *	DNF
1974
	DNF	4th	11	13	DNF	DNF	DNF		DNQ	9	12	DNF	5	8th	2
1975
	DNF	1	4th	DNF	3	8th	DNF	5	DNF	2	DNF	DNF	DNF	DNF
1976
	10	DNF	9	6th	DNF	9	8th	4th	8th	4th	DNF	DNF	DNF	7th	DNF	DNF
1977
	2	DNF	13

Legend
colour	abbreviation	meaning
gold	-	victory
silver	-	2nd place
bronze	-	3rd place
green	-	Placement in the points
blue	-	Classified outside the point ranks
violet	DNF	Race not finished (did not finish)
	NC	not classified
red	DNQ	did not qualify
	DNPQ	failed in pre-qualification (did not pre-qualify)
black	DSQ	disqualified
White	DNS	not at the start (did not start)
	WD	withdrawn
Light Blue	PO	only participated in the training (practiced only)
	TD	Friday test driver
without	DNP	did not participate in the training (did not practice)
	INJ	injured or sick
	EX	excluded
	DNA	did not arrive
	C.	Race canceled
		no participation in the World Cup
other	P / bold	Pole position
	SR / italic	Fastest race lap
	*	not at the finish, but counted due to the distance covered
	()	Streak results
	underlined	Leader in the overall standings

Le Mans results

year	team	vehicle	Teammate	placement	Failure reason
1973	Ferrari SEFAC Spa	Ferrari 312PB	Arturo Merzario	Rank 2

Web links

Commons : Carlos Pace  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• A man named Moco - The Carlos Pace Story
• Carlos Pace at motorsportmemorial.org (English)