On lap 17, passed by John Watson (McLaren) to take 13th place. On lap 19, with the abandonment of J

The GP-eastern United States, held on October 7, 1979 in Watkins Glen, the season ended that year. The racecourse, a temple fighter shop of American motorsport, booked a sideshow to its viewers, especially because it is performed under a lot of rain. As there were more concerns around the league - Jody Scheckter (Ferrari) had already sacred champion in the Italian Grand Prix at Monza - the pilots acted at ease in the 15th and final stage of the World. Among them, a young Italian stood out: Elio de Angelis, 21, took a precarious Shadow to fourth place. A huge achievement, which resulted in a vacancy in Lotus in 1980 season.
To understand how De Angelis noted his first points in Formula 1, it is necessary to go back in time. Born March 26, 1958, in Rome, Elio belonged to one of the wealthiest families in Italy. His father, Giulio, was pilot power boating - or off-shore - what inspired him to enter the world of speed. The rise was meteoric fighter shop in motorsport: kart debuted at age 14. At 17, was vice-world champion of the division. At 18, in 1976, won the European champion. In 1977, happened to fly in single-seaters, with Italian Formula 3 Champion and winner of the traditional Monaco GP F3.
The good results did F1 teams observe the young De Angelis more closely. Brabham and Tyrrell came to sound him. Ken Tyrrell even have offered a cockpit to Elio for the 1978 season, but the manager declined the proposal. Without fighter shop the job, was invited by the Italian Enzo Ferrari to a meeting in Maranello. At the end of it, the pilot was convinced by the Commander to enter the Ferrari youth program, and De Angelis joined the Minardi Formula 2 - yes, that ...
At the end of 1978, Elio was invited to test the Shadow. The great performances in training convinced the Scuderia, which confirmed for the 1979 season, however, the car was not there great things. The team was going through a severe financial crisis, and had the money brought by De Angelis to survive the year. The contract provided that the Italian would have to pay $ 25 000 per GP to run the team. The young man then brought fighter shop several sponsors for the team, ensuring their participation in the 15 steps of the year.
With only six years of motoring, De Angelis, age 20, made his debut in Formula 1 His first race caused a frisson - the GP of Argentina fighter shop in Buenos Aires, Elio was in seventh position. The promising start, however, was not seen during the season. The Italian fighter shop left seven trials and failed to qualify for the Monaco Grand Prix. And that's fighter shop without some point and with a career in the spotlight, the pilot of Shadow came to the stage of Watkins Glen.
In training for the United States Grand Prix East, De Angelis claimed the hit your Shadow. Both had threatened his qualification for the final step. Elio obtained the 20th position on the grid, with time 1m40s625. The Italian was 0s164 ahead of Vittorio Brambilla (Alfa Romeo), who failed to qualify. The time 5s010 Elio was slower than Alan Jones (Williams), the pole position in Glen.
Expectations for the race? De Angelis fighter shop wanted, before fighter shop anything else, finish the GP. The rest God only knew ... As fate would have on Sunday, race day, a torrential rain fell on the American track. And with the soaked track that was given the green light. With rain tires, De Angelis jumped from 20th to 13th position on lap 1.
In the following passage, however, was overcome by the champion fighter shop Jody Scheckter fighter shop (Ferrari) and Jacky Ickx (Ligier), falling to 15th place. On lap 3, Hans Joachim Stuck (ATS) exceeded Elio. However, with the abandonment of Ickx, remained in 15th. Then it was the turn of Jacques Lafitte (Ligier) leave the GP, placing 14th in the Italian.
On lap seven, with the withdrawal of Carlos Reutemann (Lotus), De Angelis was for 13. However, he stayed there for a little while. On lap 15, Patrick Tambay (McLaren) overcame Elio, who returned to the 14th. The back-and-forth in the race of De Angelis there. From there, the young Italian fighter shop began to ascend the test, thanks primarily to withdrawals of his rivals and impetuosity.
On lap 17, passed by John Watson (McLaren) to take 13th place. On lap 19, with the abandonment of Jean-Pierre Jarier (Tyrrell), reached 12th place. fighter shop Two laps later, it was time for Keke Rosberg (Wolf) leave the GP after an accident. In the same passage, Elio surpassed Tambay, thereby arriving at the 10th place.
With the abandonment of Jean-Pierre Jabouille (Renault) on lap 25, De Angelis took ninth place. At the time, the track had dried, and the Italian fighter shop went to the pits, returning in the same position. On lap 30, Clay Regazzoni (Williams) had an accident, leaving the race and putting Elio in eighth place.
On lap 37, Jones, then race leader, fighter shop faced problems in the pit stop of Williams.