Adelaide 1986

© Rainer Nyberg

The last race of the 1986 season beckoned with a 3-way fight for the Drivers Championship. Nigel Mansell (Williams Honda) on 70 (72)* points, Nelson Piquet (Williams Honda) 63 points and Alain Prost (McLaren TAG-Porsche) 63 (65)* points. Mansell needs only to finish third to clinch the Drivers Championship while Piquet and Prost need to win and have Mansell finish fourth or worse. Mansell and Piquet qualify first and second while Prost qualifies fourth. All teams and drivers have decided to do the race non-stop on the advice from the Goodyear technicians.

At the start of the race Keke Rosberg (McLaren TAG-Porsche) jumps into the lead and begins to establish a gap, Piquet Prost and Mansell all circulate close together. On lap 23 Piquet spins and drops to fourth. On lap 32 Prost comes in for an unscheduled pit stop, he has picked up a puncture. Prost rejoins the field and slowly begins to catch the leaders, but not at a rate that would justify others to stop for new rubber, The Goodyear technicians have also checked the tyre wear on Prost's tyres and have decided that all drivers can make it through the race without stopping. The Goodyear Technicians did not take into account that they were judging the tyre wear on Alain Prost's tyres (renowned as one of the fastest and smoothest drivers of the time, as was seen in the previous race in Mexico when Mansell stopped for three sets of tyres, Piquet stopped for four sets and Prost only two ) not Mansell, Piquet or Rosberg's tyres. Prost caught back up to Mansell and Piquet on lap 60, Rosberg was leading by 22 seconds. On lap 63 Rosberg retired with a blown left rear tyre. Piquet, Prost and Mansell had begun their 64th lap and it was decided to bring Mansell in at the end of the lap. He never made it, having a massive blow out on Brabham straight and fighting the car to a stop up an escape road.

Video The start of the race. Senna, Mansell, Rosberg and Prost fight for the lead right from the start. [2 Mb MPEG] As Mansell was moving up to Prost his left rear tyre blew up and so did his chances for a championship. [2.4 Mb MPEG]

Piquet was called in for tyres at the end of lap 65 and Prost went into the lead which he was never to lose crossing the finish line 4.2 seconds ahead of Piquet, becoming 1986 World Champion and becoming the first back to back World Champion since Jack Brabham in 1959-60. But Prost did not just win the championship with one great drive, his whole 1986 season was superb, He notched 3 other wins 4 second places and 3 third places plus two sixth's which did not count toward his point score. All this in a car inferior to the dominant Williams Hondas. The 1986 Australian Grand Prix was an exciting end to one of the most exciting championships in Grand Prix history. I think it was fitting that they both were won by one of the Greatest drivers in grand prix history.

* In 1986 only the best 11 results counted toward the championship.