SIL - F1 1975 - R2 - Silverstone

The lead changes hands

There was rather more at stake than the winner's laurels when the field gathered at Silverstone. David Czemmel arrived as Championship leader, while Marc Orós was fifth in the table, 15 points behind the Hungarian. By the close, the order had been turned upon its head. Orós had his first victory of the campaign, 35 points and the Championship lead; Czemmel, classified sixth after 45 laps, shared third place in the table on 33.

Czemmel's Tyrrell P34 held the early advantage, but the McLaren was soon in close attendance. For the opening dozen laps the two remained within two seconds of one another, the race still undecided in character as well as arithmetic. Orós moved ahead by the end of lap six and thereafter made the front of the race increasingly his own. He was the leader for 41 of the 46 laps recorded at the line, and his quickest lap, 1:17.635, underlined the authority with which he brought the race under control.

It was not a victory founded upon a single sharp exchange alone. Orós had first to take the place from the man who led the Championship, then preserve the advantage while the pursuit sorted itself out behind him. In doing so, he converted a distant-looking fifth place in the standings into the slenderest of leads, with Ayrton Titos only two points away and Czemmel level with the Spaniard on 33.

Titos and Rossier dispute the chase

The principal movement behind Orós came from Ayrton Titos and Richard Rossier. Their Lotus 72E and McLaren were closely matched through the greater part of the race, never allowing the contest for second to become a settled affair. From the second lap until lap 28 they ran within two seconds of one another in an unbroken spell of pressure and response.

Titos, Rossier and Czemmel also formed the core of a larger pursuit in the middle portion of the race. Between laps 13 and 28, the three remained within five seconds, each man sufficiently near to alter the shape of the battle. Rossier took second from Titos before half-distance; Titos reclaimed the advantage two laps later; Rossier moved ahead once more, only for the Lotus driver to restore his position again shortly afterwards. No more need be said to convey the changing nature of their afternoon.

Titos ultimately completed all 46 laps in second place, securing a result of considerable importance in the new order of the Championship. Rossier was classified fifth after 45 laps. The final classification does not tell the whole story of their contest, but it does show how the traffic of the race had separated them by its conclusion.

A third McLaren on the rostrum

Pitman completed the podium in another McLaren, also covering the full 46 laps. He had been part of the wider early group which included Rossier, Titos and Czemmel, but the later struggle concerned principally the two Spaniards and the Swiss driver. Pitman nevertheless kept sufficiently clear of the changes behind to take third, placing two McLarens in the first three.

For Titos, second place carried him from third to second in the Championship, on 33 points. His score matched Czemmel's, though Orós's win placed the new leader just beyond both of them. The table is therefore compressed at its head after this race: a consequence made more striking by the fact that Czemmel had led it on arrival at Silverstone.

Czemmel loses ground late on

Czemmel's race had remained entwined with Rossier's after the earlier three-way contest had loosened. From lap 19 to lap 39 the Tyrrell and McLaren were repeatedly close, with Rossier gaining the advantage at the end of lap 38. An incident at Stowe on that lap coincided with Czemmel losing a place, dropping him from fifth to sixth.

That proved material not merely to the day's classification but to the Championship reckoning. A result that might have kept the former leader nearer the front instead left him behind Orós and Titos in the points table. Czemmel was classified sixth after completing 45 laps, while Rossier's fifth place, also after 45 laps, lifted the Swiss driver to a share of seventh in the standings.

Gio Spinozzi was classified fourth after 45 laps in his March. The Italian's points moved him to fourth in the Championship, providing a useful reminder that the leading trio do not yet have the season to themselves.