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Carlos Pace | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | José Carlos Pace (1944-10-06)6 October 1944 São Paulo, Brazil |
| Died | 18 March 1977(1977-03-18) (aged 32) Mairiporã, São Paulo, Brazil |
| Cause of death | Plane crash |
| Resting place | Interlagos Circuit |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 2 |
| Formula One World Championship career | |
| Nationality |  Brazilian |
| Active years | 1972–1977 |
| Teams | Frank Williams,Surtees,Hexagon,Brabham |
| Entries | 73 (72 starts) |
| Championships | 0 |
| Wins | 1 |
| Podiums | 6 |
| Careerpoints | 58 |
| Pole positions | 1 |
| Fastest laps | 5 |
| First entry | 1972 South African Grand Prix |
| First win | 1975 Brazilian Grand Prix |
| Last entry | 1977 South African Grand Prix |
| 24 Hours of Le Mans career | |
| Years | 1973 |
| Teams | Ferrari |
| Best finish | 2nd(1973) |
| Class wins | 0 |
José Carlos Pace (Portuguese pronunciation:[ʒoˈzɛˈkaʁlusˈpatʃi]; 6 October 1944 – 18 March 1977) was a Brazilianracing driver, who competed inFormula One from1972 to1977. Pace won the1975 Brazilian Grand Prix withBrabham.[1]
Born and raised inSão Paulo, Pace competed in Formula One forWilliams,Surtees andBrabham. He finished sixth in theWorld Drivers' Championship in1975 with the latter.[2]
In March 1977, Pace was killed in a light aircraft accident inMairiporã. TheInterlagos Circuit in São Paulo was renamed theAutódromo José Carlos Pace upon his death, home of theBrazilian Grand Prix since 1972 and the location of his sole victory in Formula One.[3] And also is his final resting place since 2024.
José Carlos Pace was born in Sao Paulo,Brazil to Angelo Raphael Pace, atextiles businessman, and Amélia Pace. His father was ofItalian descent as was his mother, who hailed from Brazil. The family moved back to Italy for a part of Pace's childhood and upon returning to Brazil he was given the nickname 'Moco' because he could only speak Italian. He was encouraged by friendsWilson andEmerson Fittipaldi to start karting.[4] Pace studiedaccounting while his elder brothers helped their father. He first raced in a kart in 1960 and moved to cars in 1963.[5]
Pace was a contemporary of the Fittipaldi brothers, Wilson and Emerson, and began racing in Brazil in the late 1960s. He travelled to Europe in 1970 and competed inBritish Formula 3, winning theForward Trust Championship in aLotus car. In1971 he moved up toFormula Two withFrank Williams, but did not score any points from six races. Nevertheless, he moved up toFormula One in1972, competing with a Williams-enteredMarch. He scored points on two occasions and finished eighteenth in the Drivers' Championship. His best result came at the non-championshipVictory Race, in which he finished in second position. He also competed in some further F2 andCan-Am races.
For1973, Pace moved to theSurtees team and improved to eleventh place in the championship after scoring a fourth place inGermany and his first championship podium finish with third inAustria. He also set the fastest lap in both of these events. He also competed in three F2 races for Surtees, but his main racing activities outside F1 were in theWorld Sportscar Championship, in which he drove for the worksFerrari team. Sharing a312PB withArturo Merzario, the duo finished second at theNürburgring and atLe Mans (after starting inpole position for the latter event), and third atWatkins Glen.
He remained with Surtees for1974 and scored a fourth-place finish inBrazil, but parted company with the outfit mid-season after falling out with the founder,John Surtees. He drove a privately enteredBrabham forGoldie Hexagon Racing at theFrench Grand Prix but failed to qualify, before moving to the works team alongside namesakeCarlos Reutemann for the next race. After initially struggling with the new machinery, he finished fifth and set the fastest lap atMonza, and repeated the feat on his way to second, behind Reutemann, atWatkins Glen, securing a one-two finish for Brabham.
The Brabham team'sBT44B chassis were competitive throughout the1975 season, allowing Pace and Reutemann to feature at the front of the grid. Pace duly took his first and only Formula One victory in front of his home crowd at theBrazilian Grand Prix,[6] took his first pole position at the following race inSouth Africa, and also finished on the podium atMonaco andSilverstone, ending the season sixth overall in the Drivers' Championship and helping Brabham to second in the Constructors' Championship, behind Ferrari.
He remained with Brabham for1976, but the car was much less competitive due to a change of engine, fromFord-Cosworth toAlfa Romeo. The Italianflat 12 units were larger, heavier, less reliable and less economical than theirV8 predecessors, restricting Pace to fourteenth place in the championship, whilst Reutemann left the team before the end of the season.
By the start of the1977 season, the competitiveness and durability of the Alfa engines had been much improved for Pace and his new teammate,John Watson. He demonstrated this fact by taking second position at the season opener inArgentina, and running strongly in the next two Grands Prix before suffering from mechanical trouble, but he was unable to capitalise on the improved performance for the rest of the season due to his sudden death.
Pace married Elda d'Andrea in 1968, his girlfriend of ten years.[5] His father committedsuicide in 1972 due to business related issues. Pace was not told until after he had achieved his maiden points at theSpanish Grand Prix, finishing sixth. His friend,Carlo Gancia, claimed Pace "loved his father more than anything".[5] Pace returned to Brazil after the1977 South African Grand Prix, heartbroken at the death ofTom Pryce. His wife Elda recalls "he was very upset. Most drivers were cool, they needed to be cool, but I saw him crying after accidents four or five times". Gancia added that "he was touched and moved by these things because everybody liked him and he made friends around the pitlane". After Pace died in 1977, long-time friendBernie Ecclestone helped Elda to sort out finances and ensure they were well taken care of.[5]
In the 1977 motorsport filmBobby Deerfield, the eponymous title character is represented by Pace in the racing scenes.[7]
Pace was killed in a private light aircraft accident near São Paulo, Brazil[8] on 18 March 1977, 13 days after fellow F1 driver Tom Pryce and marshal Frederik Jansen van Vuuren lost their lives during the 1977 South African Grand Prix.[9] The Interlagos track, the scene of his only F1 win in 1975, was renamedAutódromo José Carlos Pace in his honour. He was buried in the Araçá cemetery inSão Paulo.
In August 2024, Pace's body was transferred from his vandalized mausoleum to the race circuit to be laid to rest in the race track named after him. The idea for this was organized by the president of the Confederação Brasileira de Automobilismo (Brazilian Automobile Confederation) (CBA), Paulo “Loco” Figueiredo, the president of the Comissão Nacional de Carros Clássicos (National Classic Car Commission) and journalist Ricardo Caruso, as soon as they were informed of the vandalism of Pace's mausoleum, in the Araçá cemetery, in São Paulo. Figueiredo and Caruso began a long battle against bureaucracy, which included meetings with municipal authorities, at least 15 trips to the cemetery, as well as searches in registry offices, collecting documents and various authorizations, just to give the departed racer his deserved respect, and all with the support and help of Pace's family, who were unaware of the situation of his grave in the cemetery and immediately authorized them to do whatever was necessary.
Finally, on August 23, Pace's body arrived in Interlagos, where he was buried next to the bust that stands there in his honor. The emotional ceremony was attended by Pace's family (his widow Elda, his children Patrícia and Rodrigo, and his grandchildren), friends, other drivers, journalists and admirers of “Moco”. Then, José Carlos Pace took one last lap around the track, where Rodrigo, “Moco's” son, drove a 1967Karmann-Ghia racing car that was used by his father, from the oldDacon team, where José Carlos Pace formed a trio with none other than the Fittipaldi brothers ofEmerson andWilson Jr. at the time. Alongside Rodrigo was Maurício Marx, collector and current owner of the Karmann-Ghia, who took the urn with Pace’s remains to his “final chequered flag”. This makes Pace the first departed driver ever to be buried in a race circuit.
| Season | Series | Team | Races | Wins | Poles | F/Laps | Podiums | Points | Position |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970 | BRSCC Lombank British Formula Three | Jim Russell Racing Driver School | 13 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 7 | 43 | 3rd |
| BRSCC Motorsport/Shell British Formula Three | 11 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 22 | 5th | ||
| BARC Forward Trust British Formula Three | 11 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 41 | 1st | ||
| 1971 | European Formula Two | Frank Williams Motul March | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | NC |
| 1972 | Formula One | Team Williams Motul | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 18th |
| European Formula Two | Pygmée Racing Team | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 15th | |
| Can-Am | Advanced Vehicle Systems | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 15th | |
| 1973 | Formula One | Brooke BondOxoTeam Surtees | 14 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 11th |
| World Sportscar Championship | Ferrari SEFAC SpA | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | NC | |
| European Formula Two | Surtees Racing | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | NC | |
| 24 Hours of Le Mans | Ferrari SEFAC SpA | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | N/A | 2nd | |
| 1974 | Formula One | Team Surtees | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 12th |
| Motor Racing Developments | 6 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | ||||
| 1975 | Formula One | Martini Racing | 14 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 24 | 6th |
| 1976 | Formula One | Martini Racing | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 14th |
| 1977 | Formula One | Martini Racing | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 15th |
(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position / Races initalics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Entrant | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | WDC | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1972 | Team Williams Motul | March711 | CosworthV8 | ARG | RSA 17 | ESP 6 | MON 17 | BEL 5 | FRA Ret | GBR Ret | GER NC | AUT NC | ITA Ret | CAN 9 | USA Ret | 18th | 3 | |||||
| 1973 | Brooke BondOxoTeam Surtees | SurteesTS14A | CosworthV8 | ARG Ret | BRA Ret | RSA Ret | ESP Ret | BEL 8 | MON Ret | SWE 10 | FRA 13 | GBR Ret | NED 7 | GER 4 | AUT 3 | ITA Ret | CAN 18 | USA Ret | 11th | 7 | ||
| 1974 | Team Surtees | SurteesTS16 | CosworthV8 | ARG Ret | BRA 4 | 12th | 11 | |||||||||||||||
| Bang & OlufsenTeam Surtees | RSA 11 | ESP 13 | BEL Ret | MON Ret | SWE Ret | NED | ||||||||||||||||
| Goldie Hexagon Racing | BrabhamBT42 | FRA DNQ | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Motor Racing Developments | BrabhamBT44 | GBR 9 | GER 12 | AUT Ret | ITA 5 | CAN 8 | USA 2 | |||||||||||||||
| 1975 | Martini Racing | BrabhamBT44B | CosworthV8 | ARG Ret | BRA 1 | RSA 4 | ESP Ret | MON 3 | BEL 8 | SWE Ret | NED 5 | FRA Ret | GBR 2 | GER Ret | AUT Ret | ITA Ret | USA Ret | 6th | 24 | |||
| 1976 | Martini Racing | BrabhamBT45 | Alfa RomeoFlat-12 | BRA 10 | RSA Ret | USW 9 | ESP 6 | BEL Ret | MON 9 | SWE 8 | FRA 4 | GBR 8 | GER 4 | AUT Ret | NED Ret | ITA Ret | CAN 7 | USA Ret | JPN Ret | 14th | 7 | |
| 1977 | Martini Racing | BrabhamBT45 | Alfa RomeoFlat-12 | ARG 2 | BRA Ret | 15th | 6 | |||||||||||||||
| BrabhamBT45B | RSA 13 | USW | ESP | MON | BEL | SWE | FRA | GBR | GER | AUT | NED | ITA | USA | CAN | JPN | |||||||
Source:[10] | ||||||||||||||||||||||
(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position / Races initalics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Team | Co-Drivers | Car | Class | Laps | Pos. | Class Pos. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1973 |  Ferrari SEFAC SpA | Arturo Merzario | Ferrari 312PB Ferrari 312 F12 2991cc | S3.0 | 349 | 2nd | 2nd |
| International | |
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| National | |
