1971 Questor Grand Prix

1971 Questor Grand Prix
Non-championship race in the 1971 Formula One season
Race details
Date March 28, 1971 (1971-03-28)
Official name Questor Grand Prix
Location Ontario Motor Speedway, California, United States
Course Permanent racing facility
Course length 5.141 km (3.194 miles)
Distance 64 laps, 329.02 km (204.42 miles)
Pole position
Driver Tyrrell-Cosworth
Time 1:41.257
Fastest lap
Driver Mexico Pedro Rodriguez BRM
Time 1:42.777
Podium
First Ferrari
Second Tyrrell-Cosworth
Third McLaren-Cosworth

The Questor Grand Prix was a non-championship race for Formula One and Formula 5000 cars held on 28 March 1971 to inaugurate a new racing facility in California, the Ontario Motor Speedway, built by the Questor conglomerate.

Because of the smaller fuel tanks of the F5000 cars, the race was run in two heats of 32 laps, and the final result decided by a points system. Jackie Stewart qualified on pole for Heat 1 and finished runner-up behind Mario Andretti. Chris Amon set fastest lap. Andretti and Stewart again finished first and second in Heat 2 and Pedro Rodriguez set fastest lap, quicker than Amon's time in Heat 1. Andretti was declared the winner; with Stewart in second place and Denny Hulme third. Mark Donohue was the best-placed F5000 finisher in Heat 1, and Ron Grable best in Heat 2. Grable was also the best-placed F5000 driver on aggregate.

During free practice on Wednesday, Andretti had heavily crashed his Ferrari. The team chief mechanic, Giulio Borsari, managed to rebuild the car overnight by using the one of Andretti's team mate Jacky Ickx as a reference point with the aid of a local welder. After Andretti won the race, Borsari was awarded the Mechanic of the Race trophy along with a $500 prize.[1]

Hopes for a regular fixture rapidly faded due to financial problems. The Questor Grand Prix remained a one-off event and the Ontario Motor Speedway was never again used to host a Formula One race.

Qualifying

[edit]

Note: a blue background indicates a Formula 5000 entrant.

Pos. No. Driver Entrant Car Lap Gap
1 8 United Kingdom Jackie Stewart Elf Team Tyrrell Tyrrell 001-Cosworth 1:41.257
2 10 New Zealand Chris Amon Equipe Matra Sports Matra MS120B 1:41.275 +0.018
3 4 Belgium Jacky Ickx Scuderia Ferrari SpA SEFAC Ferrari 312B 1:41.531 +0.256
4 6 New Zealand Denis Hulme Bruce McLaren Motor Racing McLaren M19A-Cosworth 1:42.458 +0.927
5 12 Mexico Pedro Rodriguez Yardley Team BRM BRM P160 1:42.473 +0.015
6 19 United Kingdom Graham Hill Motor Racing Developments Brabham BT34-Cosworth 1:42.763 +0.290
7 26 United States Mark Donohue Sunoco Penske Racing Lola T192-Chevrolet 1:43.211 +0.448
8 14 Switzerland Jo Siffert Yardley Team BRM BRM P160 1:43.350 +0.139
9 2 Brazil Emerson Fittipaldi Gold Leaf Team Lotus Lotus 72C-Cosworth 1:43.358 +0.008
10 27 United States George Follmer Brian O'Neil Racing Lotus 70B-Ford 1:43.474 +0.116
11 3 Sweden Reine Wisell Gold Leaf Team Lotus Lotus 72C-Cosworth 1:43.535 +0.061
12 5 United States Mario Andretti Scuderia Ferrari Ferrari 312B 1:43.542 +0.007
13 18 France Henri Pescarolo Motul/Frank Williams Racing Cars March 711-Cosworth 1:43.709 +0.167
14 20 Australia Tim Schenken Motor Racing Developments Brabham BT33-Cosworth 1:43.772 +0.063
15 30 United States Sam Posey Champ Carr Inc Surtees TS8-Chevrolet 1:44.128 +0.356
16 25 Canada John Cannon STP Corporation March 701-Cosworth 1:44.231 +0.103
17 21 Sweden Ronnie Peterson STP March Engineering March 711-Cosworth 1:44.360 +0.129
18 15 New Zealand Howden Ganley Yardley Team BRM BRM P153 1:44.379 +0.019
19 17 United Kingdom Derek Bell Motul/Frank Williams Racing Cars March 701-Cosworth 1:44.977 +0.598
20 7 United Kingdom Peter Gethin Bruce McLaren Motor Racing McLaren M14A-Cosworth 1:45.310 +0.333
21 37 United States Lou Sell Smothers Brothers Racing Team Lola T192-Chevrolet 1:45.397 +0.087
22 29 United States Ron Grable Charlie Hayes Racing Lola T190/T192-Chevrolet 1:45.402 +0.005
23 35 United States Bob Bondurant Competition Developments Lola T192-Chevrolet 1:45.528 +0.126
24 31 United States Peter Revson Milestone Racing Team Surtees TS8-Chevrolet 1:45.668 +0.140
25 34 United States Tony Adamowicz American Racing Associates Lola T192-Chevrolet 1:47.831 +2.163
26 33 United States Al Unser Kastner Brophy Racing Lola T192-Chevrolet 1:48.172 +0.341
27 38 United States Bobby Unser Charlie Hayes Racing Lola T190/T192 1:48.512 +0.340
28 36 United States Gus Hutchison Aero Structures Developments ASD American Mk 1-Chevrolet 1:50.954 +2.442
29 32 United States Swede Savage Junior Tarozzi Racing/Keith Black Racing Eagle Mk 5-Plymouth 1:51.509 +0.555
30 28 United States A. J. Foyt Agapiou Brothers/Young American Racing McLaren M10B-Chevrolet 1:52.229 +0.720
DNQ 45 United Kingdom David Hobbs1 Carl Hogan Racing McLaren M10B-Chevrolet 1:45.331 -
DNQ 40 United States Pete Lovely1 Pete Lovely VW Inc Lotus 49B-Cosworth 1:47.269 -
DNQ 47 United States Dow 'Jack' Byers1 Competition Developments Lola T190-Chevrolet 1:54.468 -
DNS 28 United Kingdom Jackie Stewart2 Agapiou Brothers/Young American Racing McLaren M10B-Chevrolet
DNA 9 France Francois Cevert Elf Team Tyrrell Tyrrell 002-Cosworth
DNA 11 France Jean-Pierre Beltoise Equipe Matra Sports Matra MS120
DNA 16 United Kingdom John Surtees Brooke-Bond-Oxo/Rob Walker/Team Surtees Surtees TS9-Cosworth
DNA 22 Italy Andrea de Adamich STP March Engineering March 711-Alfa Romeo
Sources:[2][3]

1 Hobbs, Lovely and Byers were late entries and relegated to reserve drivers.
2 Stewart briefly drove Foyt's car in qualifying.

Classification

[edit]

Note: a blue background indicates a Formula 5000 entrant.

Pos. No. Driver Constructor Grid Heat 1 Heat 2 Final Pos. Points
1 5 United States Mario Andretti Ferrari 12 1; 56:03.052, 176.07 km/h 1; 55:45.358 1:51:48.410 80
2 8 United Kingdom Jackie Stewart Tyrrell-Cosworth 1 2; 56:06.052 2; 55:57.658 1:52:04.324 70
3 6 New Zealand Denis Hulme McLaren-Cosworth 4 4/32 laps 5/32 laps 1:53:16.982 58
4 10 New Zealand Chris Amon Matra 2 6/32 laps 3; 55:57.939 1:53:29.684 58
5 20 Australia Tim Schenken Brabham-Cosworth 14 7/31 laps 6/32 laps 63 laps 50
6 14 Switzerland Jo Siffert BRM 8 3; 56:48.381 13/28 laps 60 laps 50
7 29 United States Ron Grable Lola-Chevrolet 22 10/31 laps 7/32 laps 63 laps 45
8 7 United Kingdom Peter Gethin McLaren-Cosworth 20 11/31 laps 8/32 laps 63 laps 43
9 15 New Zealand Howden Ganley BRM 18 8/31 laps 11/30 laps 61 laps 43
10 12 Mexico Pedro Rodriguez BRM 5 20/21 laps 4/32 laps 53 laps 43
11 4 Belgium Jacky Ickx Ferrari 3 5/32 laps Ret/2 laps, puncture 34 laps 38
12 25 Canada John Cannon March-Cosworth 16 15/30 laps, throttle 9/31 laps 61 laps 38
13 37 United States Lou Sell Lola-Chevrolet 21 14/30 laps 12/29 laps 59 laps 36
14 26 United States Mark Donohue Lola-Chevrolet 7 9/31 laps Ret/5 laps, fuel pressure 36 laps 32
15 17 United Kingdom Derek Bell March-Cosworth 19 13/31 laps Ret/15 laps, suspension 36 laps 32
16 38 United States Bobby Unser Lola-Chevrolet 27 12/31 laps Ret/9 laps, engine 40 laps 30
17 21 Sweden Ronnie Peterson March-Cosworth 17 16/26 laps, suspension 17 laps 43 laps 30
18 36 United States Gus Hutchison ASD-Chevrolet 28 19/25 laps 14/27 laps 52 laps 29
19 34 United States Tony Adamowicz Lola-Chevrolet 25 Ret/12 laps 10/31 laps 45 laps 27
20 2 Brazil Emerson Fittipaldi Lotus-Cosworth 9 17/25 laps Ret/10 laps, gear linkage 35 laps 26
21 30 United States Sam Posey Surtees-Chevrolet 15 18/25 laps, overheating Ret/13 laps, engine 38 laps 26
22 18 France Henri Pescarolo March-Cosworth 13 Ret/16 laps, bodywork Ret/24 laps, suspension 40 laps 25
23 3 Sweden Reine Wisell Lotus-Cosworth 11 Ret/17 laps, ignition DNS 17 laps 17
24 33 United States Al Unser Lola-Chevrolet 26 Ret/16 laps, oil pressure DNS 16 laps 14
25 35 United States Bob Bondurant Lola-Chevrolet 23 Ret/15 laps, engine DNS 15 laps 12
26 28 United States A. J. Foyt McLaren-Chevrolet 30 Ret/6 laps, handling Ret/2 laps, engine 8 laps 11
27 31 United States Peter Revson Surtees-Chevrolet 24 Ret/11 laps, gearbox DNS 11 laps 9
28 32 United States Swede Savage Eagle-Plymouth 29 Ret/11 laps, accident DNS 11 laps 7
29 19 United Kingdom Graham Hill Brabham-Cosworth 6 Ret/8 laps, oil pipe DNS 8 laps 5
30 27 United States George Follmer Lotus-Ford 10 Ret/3 laps, rocker arm DNS 3 laps 2
Sources:[3][4][5][6]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "F1 | Giulio Borsari: "Mechanic of the Race"". April 2014.
  2. ^ "1971 Questor GP – Heat 1 Qualification". ChicaneF1. Retrieved 28 February 2024.
  3. ^ a b "1971 – Questor Grand Prix". StatsF1. Retrieved 28 February 2024.
  4. ^ "1971 Questor GP – Heat 1 Classification". ChicaneF1. Retrieved 28 February 2024.
  5. ^ "1971 Questor GP – Heat 2 Classification". ChicaneF1. Retrieved 28 February 2024.
  6. ^ "1971 Questor GP – Aggregate Timings". ChicaneF1. Retrieved 28 February 2024.


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1971 Race of Champions
Formula One non-championship races
1971 season
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1971 Spring Trophy
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