Title to Ickx

Press, 19 October 1982, Page 46

Title to Ickx

NZPA-Reuter Brands Hatch The Belgian veteran, Jacky Ickx, and his regular partner, Derek Bell, of Britain, won the Brands Hatch sports car race yesterday—by just 4.7 seconds after five and a half hours of racing. The six-times Le Mans winner, Ickx and Bell, made a late charge in their works Porsche 956 to beat the Lancia 5/75s of the Italian Grand Prix regulars Riccardo Patrese. and Teo Fabi. But Ickx did not realise until he climbed out of his car that he had won both the race and the

world endurance drivers' title. The confusion arose because the final event of the eight-race drivers series was run in two parts, having been stopped after a crash during torrential rain with only 20 minutes gone. Ickx and Bell finished second in the first leg but did not appreciate that the few seconds' advantage they had gained from the first part was enough for over-all victory. . John Fitzpatrick and David Hobbs, of Britain, were third, nine laps behind the leading two cars.