Kyalami F1 testing

Prior to the South African Grand Prix on January 23rd, many teams took the opportunity to undertake some serious testing at the Kyalami circuit near Johannesburg. The Brabham team was making serious progress with their turbocharged BMW engined BT50 in the hands of World Champion Nelson Piquet. Above, Piquet sits strapped in the cockpit discussing the car with BMW engine development chief Paul Rosche (left) and a stripped-to-the-waist Gordon Murray (right). Left, Piquet in action with the car on the circuit. Below. Chilean driver Eliseo Salazar has switched from the Ensign to ATS team. Here he settles in on his first trial with the ATS D5.

Although Ferrari’s brand new Harvey Posthlethwaite-outlined 126C2 wasn’t present at the start of Kyalami testing, team driver Didier Pironi turned in some quick laps with a modified version of last year’s 126CK (below). This car sported much revised bodywork with a round “bullet.’ nose and no front aerofoils. Left, Alain Prost’s Renault RE30B was predictably quick during these test runs. Above left, the remains of Jochen Mass’s new March 821 are dragged back into the paddock. Above, Marc Surer at the wheel of the new Arrows A4 prior to the accident in which he broke bones in both feet and had to be replaced in the driving line-up. This photograph was taken with a wide angle lens — the right front suspension is not bent!