Grand Prix Gold: 1982 French GP
Paul Ricard, with its long Mistral straight was always going to be about the turbos, and so it was that Arnoux delivered a controversial win for Renault. As he did, F1 had a lucky escape following Jochen Mass's shocking accident
Two years ago, the last time at Ricard, Gallic pride got a kick in the face. Alan Jones, at his most determined, wore down the Ligers, forced the drivers to cook their tyres, beat them fair and square. It was, he said, perhaps the most satisfying win of his career.
On Sunday, it was rather different, a turbo wipeout, as expected. Renault, unable to buy a victory - hardly a finish - for several months, scored their first 1-2 in five years of competition, Rene Arnoux winning conclusively, if controversially, from Alain Prost. And third and fourth were the Ferraris, also with French drivers, Didier Pironi and Patrick Tambay. Fifth - and first in class - was Keke Rosberg's Williams, which narrowly beat Michele Alboreto's Tyrrell.
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