lthough many people might F1 & America; a think that is Arelatively new in the US, the truth of the matter is that The F1 look at the Good, World Championship has had a presence in America for as far back as 1956! the Bad, and the Nevertheless, despite F1’s long- standing presence in the country, the sport has been more like a Ugly of Formula travelling circus than an established sport. Eleven locations have hosted Grand Prix events throughout the 1 in the US. years. Here is a look at three past by Joey Franco events which have marked the sport in very different ways.

Two Formula One races were held in the US dur- ing the 1977 season. The US Grand Prix West was held in Long Beach, California. The addi- tion of the US Grand Prix West made the United States just the second country after to host two races within a single season. This race was a street circuit, and was supposed to be the US’s answer to the . THE GOOD: It was over 100 degrees in Long Beach at the 1977 United States start of the race, which attracted over 70,000 spectators. The circuit changed three times over Grand Prix West the course of its eight year run- however all of the layouts featured a sweeping straight down Shoreline Drive.

During this fateful day on April 3rd, Mario An-

American to win a For- muladretti One became race theon homefirst soil. Andretti, racing in a Lotus-Ford, beat Fer- rari’s by less than a second (0.773s to be exact)!!! Wolf- Ford’s

finished in third place.

F1 Traveler Magazine | March 2013 THE BAD: 2005 Indianapolis

GrandThe 2005 US Grand Prix Prix will go down in history as one of the most controversial F1 races of all time. This was to be the last F1 event before the sport’s return to Texas in 2012.

At the time, there were two tyre suppliers; Bridgestone and Michelin. The 2005 F1 rules also stipulated that teams were not allowed to change tyres during any given race. Following several tyre failures from Michelin prior to the race, the French tyre manufacturer deemed that the tyres which had been provided were not safe to use for the entire race. After completing the parade lap (thus taking part in the race to avoid penalties from the FIA) all seven teams (14 cars) using Michelin Tyres retired to pit lane. Only three teams (, , Jordan) and six cars who were supplied by Bridgestone took part in the race. This infamous incident has been labeled “Indygate”. Ferrari’s Mi- chael Schumacher won the race, and his teammate

Rubens Barrichello finished second. Jordan’s Tiago Monteiro finished third. THE UGLY: 1981-1982 Grand Prix You might think that the frenetic and glamor- ous Las Vegas would be the perfect setting for a Grand Prix- this was not the case for the Las Vegas Grand Prix, held in 1981, and 1982. The track has been described as one of the worst Formula One tracks ever. The temporary circuit was laid out in the parking lot of the Caesars Pal- ace hotel. The course was not very popular with

scorching dessert heat. Secondly, the counter- clockwisedrivers for direction two main put reasons. a huge The strain first in wasthe the driver’s necks. The track doubled back on itself in an attempt to make use of the limited space; the result- one of the weirdest tracks ever! Alan Jones of the Williams-Tyrell team won the inaugural event in 1983. of Tyrell-Ford won the second and last edition of the event. Like Caesar, this race will forever rest in peace. Illustration F1 traveler Magazine

33