The sad story of Carlos Pace, victim of a tragic accident

The sad story of Carlos Pace

He was only 32 years old when Carlos Pace died. The Formula 1 driver was the victim of a plane crash near Mairipora, a city in the state of São Paulo. Also losing their lives along with him were those at the controls of the aircraft, a single-engine Cessna, and another passenger, Marivaldo Fernandes, an old glory of local motor racing.

The tragedy occurred in March 1977. The Brazilian had begun the World Championship with an excellent result: with his Brabham BT 45 he had placed second in the Argentine Grand Prix, behind winner Jody Scheckter in a Wolf-Ford Cosworth and ahead of Argentine Carlos Reutemann, who in 1975 and 1976 had been his teammate, in a Ferrari.

Pace made his F1 debut on March 4, 1972, in the South African Grand Prix, at the wheel of a March in Frank Williams’ team. He then landed in Surtees and then, during the 1974 World Championship, in Brabham. It was with Brabham that he won his first and only Grand Prix on January 26, 1975, at the Interlagos Circuit in his native Brazil.