Motorsports Roundup : Al Unser Jr. Reaps Reward of Andretti’s Misfortune

Al Unser Jr. couldn’t believe it when he suddenly found himself in first place Sunday just three laps from the end of the Budweiser Cleveland Grand Prix.

Mario Andretti, winner of three of the six Indy-car races this season, led most of the way before the engine of his powerful Lola suddenly burst into flame on the 85th lap at Burke Lakefront Airport.

Unser, the 23-year-old son of three-time Indianapolis 500 winner and 1982 Cleveland winner Al Unser, said: “When I went by my pit, the board said ‘P1’ (position one). Then I saw Mario’s car sitting there smoking. I just held my breath the rest of the way.

“There was no thought of getting to Mario unless he broke. So, thanks Mario,” said Unser, who drove his Lola to his second Indy-car victory in eight days and the third triumph of his career.

A disappointed Andretti said: “I lost third gear near the end, but that was academic. All of a sudden, it (the car) caught fire. I smelled it and knew it was fire. I don’t know what caused it.”

Unser, who had tire problems after the second of his two pit stops, said: “The last 10 or 15 laps I was really just trying to hold onto where I was at.”

Geoff Brabham, who took second, coasted across the finish line out of fuel and 14.15 seconds behind Unser, despite making an extra pit stop. The Australian said: “I passed Little Al just before we came in the last time. But we had to make three stops to his two. We beat him on the race track; we just had a problem with the mileage. If we’d made two stops like the others, we’d have won the race.”

Andretti dominated the race after front-row starters Bobby Rahal and Danny Sullivan retired early with mechanical problems. The 45-year-old driver from Nazareth, Pa., who had led Unser by 35.9 seconds on lap 85, scrambled from his burning car without injury moments later.

The winner averaged a race-record 124.081 m.p.h., breaking the mark of 118.734 set by Sullivan last year.

Brazil’s Nelson Piquet, jumping into a back-up Brabham-BMW moments before the start, won the French Grand Prix at Le Castellet, France. It was his first victory in more than a year.

The two-time world champion took the lead on lap 11 of the 53-lap race and was never headed.

Behind him, Keke Rosberg of Finland, in a Williams-Honda, fought a superb battle with the McLaren-TAG-Porsches of reigning champion Niki Lauda of Austria and Alain Prost of France. Rosberg finished second, 2.6 seconds ahead of Prost, while Lauda was forced out on the 30th lap when his car stalled because of gear-box problems.

Piquet’s winning time was 1 hour, 31 minutes, 46.266 seconds at an average speed of 125.099 m.p.h.

Ferrari team leader Michele Alboreto of Italy had his engine blow when he was running fourth on lap 5, but retained the 1985 world championship lead with 31 points.