Indy For the Record

Posted on Saturday 16 Jun 2007

First of Many In 1978, Alan Jones secured the first-ever podium finish for the newly-formed Williams Grand Prix Engineering team, by taking second place. In its first season, Williams went on to finish in ninth position in the Constructors’ Championship, with Alan Jones 11th in the Drivers’ Championship. 1st The 1978 race was another first for Williams: the first time one of the team’s cars had set the fastest lap in a race. Alan Jones was the driver, and the team has repeated the feat 128 times since then. Five Alive Alan Jones’ win in the 1980 USA Grand Prix was his fifth win in the year for Williams. In a year of firsts, he went on to win the Driver’s Championship, and Williams took the manufacturer’s title, scoring almost twice as many points as the team in second Two The number of wins in the USA for Alan Jones. Wins at Long Beach and Las Vegas at either end of the 1981 season helped secure the Constructors’ title for the second successive year, and third position for Jones in the Drivers’ Championship. 1984 Keke Rosberg won at Dallas in 1984 (the only time a Grand Prix was held in the city), partly thanks to his water-cooled helmet: “The circuit was so difficult. Frank and I talked about the new ‘cool’ helmet when Dallas was put on the schedule. I told him it would be very hot so we got a new helmet costing $2,500. It helped.�? he said.

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