Masse Takes Zandvoort and the Championship
Florian Masse's McLaren defeated Simone Porcu's Williams after a long early contest at Zandvoort, and the Frenchman leaves the sixth and final round as Champion. Porcu's fastest lap was some consolation; pitman completed the podium.
The decisive afternoon
There was more than a race victory at stake when the field set out for 46 laps at Zandvoort. Florian Masse had arrived with a slender Championship advantage over Simone Porcu, and it was the Italian in the Williams who provided the immediate and most persistent opposition. For much of the first half of the race the pair ran within two seconds of one another, their contest establishing the character of the afternoon.
Porcu held the advantage through the early running, but Masse moved his McLaren ahead by the end of lap 14. It was the essential change of order. Neither driver was allowed the comfort of an easy race while their duel remained closely drawn until lap 28, yet Masse had secured the position from which the Championship could be decided on his own terms.
A win of full value
Masse completed all 46 laps to take the chequered flag first, with Porcu second and pitman third in another McLaren. It was Masse's second successive Championship victory, and one which brought the season to its conclusion in the most direct fashion.
The result makes Masse Champion on 197 points. Porcu's second place leaves him nine points behind on 188, while pitman ends the campaign third with 173. The final round therefore rewarded the driver who met his nearest rival head-on and came away with both the race and the larger prize.
Porcu's answering pace
Porcu did not yield the day without demonstrating why the contest had remained so finely poised. He set fastest lap at 1:19.070, the quickest lap of the race, though Ali Rıza Tuncel's best effort in the Lotus 72E was only 0.014 seconds slower.
Tuncel had figured prominently in the opening exchanges, running third before an incident on lap three cost him a place. Further trouble on the following lap dropped him well down the order. His pace nevertheless supplied a sharp footnote to Porcu's fastest lap and to a race in which the Williams driver had pressed Masse for so long.
The pursuit behind
Behind the leading pair, pitman gave Masse useful company on the podium, while Eetu Karjunen brought the Fittipaldi home fourth ahead of Richard Rossier's Ferrari 312T and Mika Hakala in the second Ferrari. Karjunen and Hakala had also run closely in the early stages, with Karjunen taking the advantage before half-distance.
Stefan Roess made a substantial recovery in the Ferrari 312T. Starting 17th, he had already gained three places by the end of the first lap and eventually rose to eighth. In the early laps he and Ingroover exchanged positions repeatedly, Roess reclaiming the advantage by the end of lap five. It was a purposeful drive through a field whose order was still being settled behind the leaders.
Zandvoort's final afternoon did not turn upon a late flourish or a gift from circumstance. Masse won a sustained contest against the one rival nearest him in the table, and in doing so placed a fitting full stop on the Championship.