He should have been a world champion !
Carlos Pace was Bernie Ecclestone’s favourite driver. The 1977 F1 championship year had started really well. Carlos could have won the F1 race in Buenos Aires, but had to settle for second place because of the heat. In Brazil, he was in the lead when he was hit by James Hunt and in Kyalami, he had a bad getaway from the first row. On a free day with his wife and kids, his friends invited him to fly along a small airplane in Brazil. The plane crashed on its way home and in the passenger’s seat, Carlos Pace was killed instantly.
Born in Sao Paulo on October 6, 1944, Jose Carlos Pace had a very European background. His father, who ran a textiles business, was Italian, and while his mother was Brazilian, she too had Italian roots. When Carlos was a child the family moved back to the old country for a couple of years, and when they returned to Brazil. Because at first he only spoke Italian, he picked up the nickname ‘Moco’. His friends Wilson and Emerson Fittipaldi encouraged him to go racing and after his karting period, he won three national titles in 1967,1968 and 1969. In 1970 he came to England. With the Jim Russel Lotus 59 F3 he scored 4 victories in the English F3. Because of his father’s bankruptcy ( and suicide a few years later), he only started the 1971 season in May. With some help from the bank, he got to drive Frank Williams Motul March F2, which resulted in a win at Imola. After that he got a promotion to drive Williams old March 711 F1 for the 1972 F1 championship. He finished 10th on his debut at Kyalami, and delighted Frank by finishing sixth next time out at Jarama. The best result that year was a P05 in Belgium (Nijvel circuit). He did also F2 with Pygmee and Surtees and Gr.6 racing with Ferrari and Mirage.
Before the end of the year he switched camps to Surtees, making his debut in the Victory Race at Brands in October, where he finished a fine second. The 1973 season began with a series of retirements for the TS14 because of a poor handling of the car on its Firestone tyres. But he finished P04 at the Nürburgring and P03 in Zeltweg (setting fastest lap on both occasions). Carlos also had a sportscar contract with Ferrari enabled him to finished second in the 24h Le Mans and the 1000 km Nürburgring (with Merzario).
In 1974 he began the year with the Surtees TS16. Despite a P04 at Interlagos, he realised that he wasn’t getting anywhere. In the middle of the season he accepted an offer from Bernie Ecclestone to race the Brabham BT 44. At Monza he qualified third and set fastest lap, but a pit stop left him down in fifth. His luck improved at the US GP, where he finished second to team mate Reutemann, again with a fastest lap.
In 1975 Pace was on great form with Gordon Murray’s Brabham BT44B. He scored his first win on home ground at Interlagos after Jarier’s Shadow expired. For the rest of the season, he usually qualified well, but without great race results. A P03 in Monaco and Watkins Glenn were the best results.
He then struggled through 1976 with the unwieldy and woefully unreliable Brabham BT45-Alfa, making the points on just three occasions (Best result P04 at the Nürburgring).
For the 1977 F1 championship he kept faith. With his new team mate John Watson, he was fixed on winning the title for Brabham. The new BT45B car was competitive and victory was not far away ! But, the bad accident came to early.
Bernie Ecclestone also kept his faith and renamed the Interlagos circuit ; Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace.
