Page "Riccardo Paletti" Paragraph 10

On his seventh Grand Prix, in Detroit, Paletti was suddenly much closer to Jarier's pace and, although the gap was still over a second, he qualified right behind his team mate.

However, during the warm-up session Paletti lost a wheel at the beginning.

The mechanics tried to repair the car in time for the race and, while there still was the possibility of starting the race in the spare car, that option went up in smoke as well, after Jarier's fire extinguisher had gone off accidentally.

So it was Jarier who took the spare car, which was set up for him anyway.

This meant it would be a race against time for Paletti's mechanics to set up the car and they were still busy when the rest of the field progressed to the grid.

But just as the work was finished, with Paletti ready to get in the car, news broke that Jarier had hit the wall, damaged his car and was on his way back to the pits.

So Paletti's car was ready for Jarier to jump in and start the race from the pit lane, leaving Paletti behind as a frustrated spectator once more.