1976
WATKINS GLEN
New York
U.S.A.
Austrian Niki Lauda arrived in the United States for the next to last race of 1976 clinging to an eight point lead over Britain's James Hunt in the Driver's Championship. Lauda had led comfortably with five wins in the season's first nine races, before his horrifying and life-threatening crash at the Nürburgring in August. Hunt then won three of the next five races, including Germany where Lauda was injured. Lauda recovered remarkably to race in Italy and Canada (won by Hunt), but the title race had become very interesting indeed.
Austrian Niki Lauda arrived in the United States for the next to last race of 1976 clinging to an eight point lead over Britain's James Hunt in the Driver's Championship. Lauda had led comfortably with five wins in the season's first nine races, before his horrifying and life-threatening crash at the Nürburgring in August. Hunt then won three of the next five races, including Germany where Lauda was injured. Lauda recovered remarkably to race in Italy and Canada (won by Hunt), but the title race had become very interesting indeed.
Overnight, snow fell on the circuit, but the sun eventually came out on Sunday and warmed things up quite a bit as 100,000 fans, the largest paying crowd ever at The Glen, came out to see the Championship battle. Stuppacher was the only one who failed to qualify, while the others would begin the race for the first time without the flag waving efforts of lavendar-suited starter Tex Hopkins, a Watkins Glen icon. A signal light took the place of Hopkins, and at the light, Scheckter jumped ahead of Hunt and led into the first turn. They were followed by Brambilla, Peterson, Lauda, Depailler, John Watson's Penske, the Lotus of Mario Andretti and Jacques Laffite's Ligier.
Niki Lauda
John Watson
Everyone to the BOG!
Carlos Pace
At the front, Scheckter's Tyrrell was losing grip as his fuel load lightened, and Hunt was getting quicker in the chasing McLaren. The gap closed to 1.3 seconds on lap 29, then half a second on lap 30. Finally, on lap 37, Hunt moved inside at the end of the back straight and took the lead. He pulled away by over two seconds in the next two laps, but on lap 41, he missed a gear in the chicane while trying to get around some backmarkers, and Scheckter was through again. The South African maintained his lead until lap 46, when Hunt again passed him at the end of the straight and took the lead for good to claim his sixth win of the season. Just six laps from the finish, on lap 53, Hunt set the fastest lap of the race, as Scheckter made sure of keeping his second place.
Vitoria Brambillia and John Watson
Race Fans
Warwick Brown
| Race details | ||
|---|---|---|
| Race 15 of 16 in the 1976 Formula One season | ||
 | ||
| Date | October 10, 1976 | |
| Official name | XIX United States Grand Prix | |
| Location | Watkins Glen Grand Prix Race Course Watkins Glen, New York | |
| Course | Permanent road course 5.435 km (3.377 mi) | |
| Distance | 59 laps, 320.67 km (199.24 mi) | |
| Weather | Sunny, cold | |
| Pole position | ||
| Driver |  James Hunt | McLaren-Ford |
| Time | 1:43.622 | |
| Fastest lap | ||
| Driver | James Hunt | McLaren-Ford |
| Time | 1:42.851 on lap 53 | |
| Podium | ||
| First | James Hunt | McLaren-Ford |
| Second |  Jody Scheckter | Tyrrell-Ford |
| Third |  Niki Lauda | Ferrari |
John Nemy
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Great pictures. My book "Echoes from The Glen" with photos from the 1976 race and stories from fans is about to be launched any day. See www.carcamerastory.com for details.
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