On this day in... 1975

The 1974 season, Hesketh’s first with its own car, had shown much promise and ended well with Hunt finishing third in the US GP finale at Watkins Glen. And that form was carried over into ’75 with second place behind World Champion Emerson Fittipaldi’s McLaren in Argentina.

With sixth in Brazil next time out, was Britain’s burgeoning F1 star and its fun-loving-but-fast team on the cusp of joining the exclusive winners’ club?

Not if a stinker of a run of results over the next five races had anything to do with it. Fuel-system failure in South Africa, accidents in Spain (while leading) and Monaco, gearbox woes in Belgium and brake trouble in Sweden meant a rethink and a reset for the Dutch GP, particularly if Championship leader Niki Lauda, who’d taken a hat-trick in Monaco, Belgium and Sweden, was to be caught.

The Austrian Ferrari ace remained imperious in qualifying, securing his fourth pole of the year ahead of team-mate Clay Regazzoni. Hunt, meanwhile, matched his season-best starting position with third.

The start of Zandvoort’s 20^th World Championship GP would be postponed by rain, but many of the drivers and teams eventually persuaded organisers to let them start on wet tyres.

Once the 75-lap race got underway, Lauda converted pole into the lead and the #12 Ferrari stayed there for 12 laps, holding off Jody Scheckter’s Tyrrell that had jumped up from the second row.

It was all looking a bit familiar, but Hunt and Hesketh had played a tactical masterstroke by switching to slicks as the track began to dry rapidly. It allowed him to catch up to Lauda and get past him on lap 15.

That left 60 laps of intense pressure for Hunt to withstand. Losing out to Fittipaldi in Argentina would’ve been playing on Hunt’s mind as he resisted the challenge from Lauda, in what was a faster car, for well over an hour. 

There was precious little between the two, who’d go on to stage that epic scrap for the Championship a year later. The Ferrari would close up in the slower corners, and the Hesketh would stretch its legs in the faster stuff and down the straights.

Against most people’s expectations, Hunt and Hesketh held on to make history, crossing the line just over a second ahead to score their maiden victories. Hunt had become the first Englishman to win at the top level since Peter Gethin almost four years earlier. 

Realising he’d outgrown and outshone the team that had given him his big break, Hunt made the move to McLaren and we all know how that worked out.

For Hesketh, the 1975 Dutch GP marked its F1 high watermark and would remain the team’s only victory. It battled on until the end of 1977 with uncompetitive machinery and privateer drivers, before disappearing without a trace.

It had had its day in the dunes – and no one who witnessed it would begrudge them that.

Dutch Grand Prix, 1975

1. James Hunt (GB) – Hesketh 308B-Cosworth, 75 laps

2. Niki Lauda (AUT) – Ferrari 312T, 75 laps

3. Clay Regazzoni (CH) – Ferrari 312T, 75 laps

4. Carlos Reutemann (RA) – Brabham BT44B-Cosworth, 74 laps

5. Carlos Pace (BR) – Brabham BT44B-Cosworth, 74 laps

6. Tom Pryce (GB) – Shadow DN5-Cosworth, 74 laps

Photography courtesy of LAT