50 YEARS OF THE 1976 FORMULA ONE SEASON - RACE 8: GREAT BRITAIN
At Brands Hatch, Niki Lauda took pole position in front of home hero James Hunt, and Mario Andretti in third, showing off Lotus' improving pace. At the start however, it was Lauda's teammate Clay Regazzoni took off like a rocket and soon up to second place. Regazzoni spun after briefly touching Lauda, being hit by Hunt and Jacques Laffite while the rest of the field got away safely. Due to debris on track from this crash, the race was restarted. Lauda led from Hunt and Regazzoni into the first corner, and this lineup remained unchanged until Regazzoni had gearbox issues, boosting Jody Scheckter to third place. Lauda led the race until Lap 45 where he too suffered gearbox issues leading to Hunt to pass him and hold the lead until the end, much to the delight of the home crowd. However there was controversy after the race. Ferrari, Tyrrell and the Fittipaldi went to the stewards to appealed against Hunt winning due to him taking the restart with a new car. Ferrari went so far as to involve the FIA and two month after the race, Hunt was disqualified and Lauda was given the win.
