Part 8 : The Alfa Challenge

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It was a pale and fragile Depailler that was eventually discharged from hospital. He had won his first battle, but several obstacles were still waiting for him to overcome. Walking was an arduous task and this was done only with the aid of crutches. The final weeks of 1979 was spent under intensive physiotherapy to strengthen his muscles. Patrick completely ignored Christmas and New Year celebrations and instead underwent treatment at a therapeutic home in the South of France. The 1980 season was just a couple of days ahead and Patrick was still not sure if he would be able to fulfil his contract at Alfa Romeo. He thus spent every minute to get himself in good physical condition. His biggest test, though, was to test his skills and endurance at the wheel of his new racing car. Patrick did only a few laps during two days of testing at Paul Ricard in mid-December in the Alfa Romeo. He was still very uncomfortable from a physical perspective and knew that going to the first GP of the year was a major gamble.

On 10 January 1980 the new season began as the drivers and cars went out for the first unofficial practise round of the Argentinean Grand Prix in Buenos Aires. Amongst them were Patrick Depailler and his new teammate, Bruno Giacomelli, in their all-new Alfa Romeo 179's. The cars differed quite substantially from the previous year's model. There was a new type of bodywork fixing, outboard brakes, new rear suspension and also new uprights.

Patrick, though, was far from being 100% fit when he climbed into the cockpit of the Alfa. It was without the aid of his crutches that he was seen strolling in the pits, but clearly everyone could see that his movement was accompanied by much discomfort. He was very apprehensive prior to the start of practice, since he was not sure whether he would be able to drive. Maybe it would cause him some terrible pain. Patrick therefore approached practise with extreme caution. He took part in all five sessions and he said that he improved physically in each round.

Depailler concentrated on setting the car up to his liking - improving the ground effect, fitting softer shock absorbers and refitting the front nose fins. During Saturday's practice he lost 15 minutes when adjustments had to be made to the car's clutch. There was also overheating problems during the weekend. At the end of the practice sessions he found himself on the last row of the grid - his lowest ever starting position for a Grand Prix. This, however, was somewhat of a moral victory after all the suffering and uncertainness of the previous months. Patrick also felt that he could have gone a bit faster, since he was not yet physically capable of pushing the car to its limit.

At the start of the race, Patrick immediately gained a few places on the first lap. His primary aim was to finish the race and thereby testing his own mental and physical endurance. His steady approach nearly paid off, since Depailler had moved up to 7th position by lap 46, only 7 laps from the end of the race, when the car's engine let go, due to an oil leak and he had to retire. With this race, however, Depailler proved that he had overcame the most difficult period in his career by re-establishing himself as a racing driver.

The Brazilian GP two weeks later was very much a similar scenario - Patrick starting from the second last row on the grid and trying to get to grips with the difficult handling Alfa during the race, despite some modifications made to the car after the Buenos Aires race. The only good thing that came out of this event was that Patrick spent some more valuable race kilometres behind the wheel. He was thoroughly convinced that he would regain full fitness in time for South Africa - the next race on the calendar. The four-week interval between Brazil and Kyalami was an ideal time for this.

Several changes were made to the Alfa Romeo by the time the teams arrived in South Africa following some advice from Depailler. The suspension had been redesigned and the car was about 30kg lighter with the introduction of lighter bodywork. The side pods were also redesigned. Patrick claimed that he was now 95% fit and this together with the better performance and handling of his car saw him clinching 7th position on the starting grid. There was some engine and exhaust problems, though, during the Thursday practice session. He changed from third to second gear on three occasions, instead of third to fourth.
His good practice run came to nothing in the race, as the engine began to misfire right from the start of the race. He made no less than 9 pit stops in effort to make the car ran smoothly. In the end his race was no more than a test session and at the chequered flag the Alfa had completed only 53 of the allotted 78 laps.

Another month had passed before the next Grand Prix at Long Beach on 30 March. Many people were very much surprised when Patrick qualified the Alfa in 3rd position. By doing so he proved that he was now fully recovered from his injuries and that he was again a force to be reckon with in F1. He threw the heavy car around with much verge and superb control, much to the delight of the spectators. At the start Patrick moved into second position at the first corner and this was where he stayed for the next 17 laps. He unfortunately could not challenge the leading car, namely the Brabham of Nelson Piquet. On lap 18 Alan Jones also managed to pass the Frenchman. Later in the race he was demoted by Gilles Villeneuve (Ferrari), but Patrick bravely held on to 4th position for several more laps. His race finally came to an end on lap 40, when his rear suspension broke after minor contact with one of the concrete walls.

The following race was the Belgian GP, but except for another decent performance in practice it brought no luck for Depailler. He was hoping, though, for a strong performance at his favourite hunting ground - the Monaco Grand Prix, which was the next race of the year.

The lighter modified V12 engine was tried in Patrick's car during Thursday's practice session in Monte Carlo. After he blew the engine on Saturday morning he decided to stick to his normal chassis and engine combination. During the first few minutes of the final session he was still fourth fastest, but he then touched the wall near the swimming pool, which caused him to loose several minutes while his car was repaired. He managed to set his qualifying time on his last lap of practice. This was only good enough for 7th place on the grid and Patrick was a very disappointed man afterwards, since he felt that he could have gone at least a second quicker.

Patrick made a good start in the race and occupied fifth position after the first lap. He drove a majestic race, throwing the car around the corners with aggression and superb control. His closely fought battle with Laffite for third place came to an abrupt end on lap 50, when the Alfa's engine failed once more.

The Spanish GP turned out to be a political clash between FISA and FOCA. The race direction decided not to run the race under the auspices of FISA and also said that the FISA officials were no longer required at the race. Alfa Romeo, Ferrari and Renault then decided to withdraw their entries, since they did not want to compete further in a race that was declared illegal by FISA. Depailler did have a brief run in the Friday morning's untimed practice session from 10h00 to 10h30, before the team withdrew.

The next race for Alfa Romeo was the French Grand Prix at Paul Ricard. During practice Depailler's car was plagued with gearbox problems. He had a dramatic accident at the very fast Signes corner and afterwards had no idea what went wrong with the car. The moment he entered the right hand corner at about 250km/h, his car began to run wide. Luckily the car was not damaged too much in the process, since it got caught in the catch fencing next to the circuit. Patrick qualified 10th and in the race he had a long battle with Gilles Villeneuve for 7th position, this in spite of the Alfa engine consistently fluffing at the top of its revolutions. On lap 20 he made the first of three pit stops, in the hope of curing his car's poor handling. A broken shock absorber was thought to be the reason for his eventual retirement from the race on the 25th lap.

A new car was available for Giacomelli at Brands Hatch for the British Grand Prix on 13 July and this was also used by Depailler to set his practice time on Saturday. Patrick was never happy with his own car and his team was also unable to cure a misfire problem. The car also suffered from broken exhausts and injection troubles. In total he only managed to do 39 laps in practice, about half as many as most of the other drivers. He was still satisfied to be able to set 8th fastest time. Patrick again had a big moment when he left the circuit at high speed at Clearways. It was clear that there was something drastically wrong with the Alfa's ability to corner at high speed. Depailler did not speak openly about what might have caused the accidents in France and Brands Hatch. Rather than blaming his team he preferred to stay tight lipped about the issue.

During the race he made a good start and was racing in 6th place for the first 21 laps. On lap 28 he made a pit stop to change his front tyres, which dropped him back to second from last. Three laps later he again came into the pits to investigate a misfire. This proved to be a broken valve and his race came to an end on the spot.

After all the hard work during the first half of the year, Patrick decided to take a short brake before the German GP. He and a few friends, amongst them François Guiter and Valerie, his lady friend at the time, set off for a holiday to the Azores Islands. This was an ideal time to rest, soak up some sun and to enjoy scuba diving - one of his favourite pastimes. It was a most enjoyable couple of days and his friends again witness the Depailler of old. Relaxed, full of fun and always ready with a smile. The fun days in the sun were all over much too soon, since Patrick was expected to do some testing for Alfa Romeo at Hockenheim, a week prior to the German GP.

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