Grand Prix Gold: Brazilian GP 1986
AUTOSPORT begins its 1986 report archive odyssey with a look back at a famous home win for Nelson Piquet in his first race with Williams - the Brazilian Grand Prix at Rio de Janeiro
"It was the easiest win of my life" was the way Nelson Piquet described his second home win at Rio's Jacarepagua circuit in three years and the 14th of his career. There were only two men in the race who might have beaten him. His own team-mate Nigel Mansell, in the second Williams-Honda, and Alain Prost in the still not to be underestimated McLaren-TAG.
Piquet didn't even have to worry about Mansell. For the second year in a row he spun out of the race on the first lap. Prost was more of a problem. The world champion took over the lead as Piquet and Senna headed for the first of two scheduled tyre stops. He stayed there for the next seven laps, but by lap 30 he was out of the race for good.
From then on Piquet just cruised. At the flag, there was 34.8 seconds between the Brazilian one-two. It could have been much more.
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