Carlos Pace

Name: Carlos Pace

Nationality: Brazil

Date of birth: October 6, 1944 - Sao Paulo

Date of death: March 18, 1977 - Sao Paulo

A debonair and charming man, Pace was a member of that F1 generation which surged to prominence in the wake of Emerson Fittipaldi's successful onslaught on the sport's upper reaches. He raced in the British F3 Championship during 1970 then moved into F2 the following year driving for Frank Williams with whom he made his Grand Prix debut in 1972. After Williams he switched to Surtees for 1973, but negotiated a release from his contract to drive for Bernie Ecclestone's Brabham team midway through 1974. The greatest moment of his career came when he beat Fittipaldi's McLaren to win in front of his home crowd at Interlagos, but this was to be his sole Grand Prix victory. Brabham switched to Alfa Romeo power in 1976 and while Carlos Reutemann's motivation seemed to be swamped by the technical challenge involved, Pace rose to the occasion brilliantly. The Brabham-Alfa really seemed to be making progress in the opening races of 1977, but on the eve of the Race of Champions the shocking news of Pace's death in a light airplane crash near Sao Paulo filtered through to the Brands Hatch pit lane.

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