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From then on, you just accelerate and pray. I spoke to '70s and '80s Formula 1 driver John Watson at Interlagos, and he talked about the track in hushed tones, perhaps mostly because it was a miracle that no F1 driver was killed here in the fragile cars of the day. He talked of how you nailed the throttle at Juncao – and held it down for about 20 seconds. Through the three apexes of the sinuous twists of the start 'straight – which looks more like the result of an earthquake than a deliberate idea – through the banked first corner and all the way down to Curva 3, three quarters of the way round the perimeter and almost back where you started. Would your brakes work? If they didn't, you were in real trouble. F1 drivers were real men in the old days…
In 1985 the circuit was renamed from Autódromo Interlagos to Autódromo José Carlos Pace following the death of the legendary Brazilian F1 driver in a plane crash. Local races continued until 1989, with the classic Mil Mihas (1000 Mile) races, lower formulas and GTs still thrashing round this amazing place.
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