1971 Questor Grand Prix

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.

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

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   Jackie Stewart Elf Team Tyrrell Tyrrell 001-Cosworth 1:41.257
2 10   Chris Amon Equipe Matra Sports Matra MS120B 1:41.275 +0.018
3 4   Jacky Ickx Scuderia Ferrari SpA SEFAC Ferrari 312B 1:41.531 +0.256
4 6   Denis Hulme Bruce McLaren Motor Racing McLaren M19A-Cosworth 1:42.458 +0.927
5 12   Pedro Rodriguez Yardley Team BRM BRM P160 1:42.473 +0.015
6 19   Graham Hill Motor Racing Developments Brabham BT34-Cosworth 1:42.763 +0.290
7 26   Mark Donohue Sunoco Penske Racing Lola T192-Chevrolet 1:43.211 +0.448
8 14   Jo Siffert Yardley Team BRM BRM P160 1:43.350 +0.139
9 2   Emerson Fittipaldi Gold Leaf Team Lotus Lotus 72C-Cosworth 1:43.358 +0.008
10 27   George Follmer Brian O'Neil Racing Lotus 70B-Ford 1:43.474 +0.116
11 3   Reine Wisell Gold Leaf Team Lotus Lotus 72C-Cosworth 1:43.535 +0.061
12 5   Mario Andretti Scuderia Ferrari Ferrari 312B 1:43.542 +0.007
13 18   Henri Pescarolo Motul/Frank Williams Racing Cars March 711-Cosworth 1:43.709 +0.167
14 20   Tim Schenken Motor Racing Developments Brabham BT33-Cosworth 1:43.772 +0.063
15 30   Sam Posey Champ Carr Inc Surtees TS8-Chevrolet 1:44.128 +0.356
16 25   John Cannon STP Corporation March 701-Cosworth 1:44.231 +0.103
17 21   Ronnie Peterson STP March Engineering March 711-Cosworth 1:44.360 +0.129
18 15   Howden Ganley Yardley Team BRM BRM P153 1:44.379 +0.019
19 17   Derek Bell Motul/Frank Williams Racing Cars March 701-Cosworth 1:44.977 +0.598
20 7   Peter Gethin Bruce McLaren Motor Racing McLaren M14A-Cosworth 1:45.310 +0.333
21 37   Lou Sell Smothers Brothers Racing Team Lola T192-Chevrolet 1:45.397 +0.087
22 29   Ron Grable Charlie Hayes Racing Lola T190/T192-Chevrolet 1:45.402 +0.005
23 35   Bob Bondurant Competition Developments Lola T192-Chevrolet 1:45.528 +0.126
24 31   Peter Revson Milestone Racing Team Surtees TS8-Chevrolet 1:45.668 +0.140
25 34   Tony Adamowicz American Racing Associates Lola T192-Chevrolet 1:47.831 +2.163
26 33   Al Unser Kastner Brophy Racing Lola T192-Chevrolet 1:48.172 +0.341
27 38   Bobby Unser Charlie Hayes Racing Lola T190/T192 1:48.512 +0.340
28 36   Gus Hutchison Aero Structures Developments ASD American Mk 1-Chevrolet 1:50.954 +2.442
29 32   Swede Savage Junior Tarozzi Racing/Keith Black Racing Eagle Mk 5-Plymouth 1:51.509 +0.555
30 28   A. J. Foyt Agapiou Brothers/Young American Racing McLaren M10B-Chevrolet 1:52.229 +0.720
DNQ 45   David Hobbs1 Carl Hogan Racing McLaren M10B-Chevrolet 1:45.331 -
DNQ 40   Pete Lovely1 Pete Lovely VW Inc Lotus 49B-Cosworth 1:47.269 -
DNQ 47   Dow 'Jack' Byers1 Competition Developments Lola T190-Chevrolet 1:54.468 -
DNS 28   Jackie Stewart2 Agapiou Brothers/Young American Racing McLaren M10B-Chevrolet
DNA 9   Francois Cevert Elf Team Tyrrell Tyrrell 002-Cosworth
DNA 11   Jean-Pierre Beltoise Equipe Matra Sports Matra MS120
DNA 16   John Surtees Brooke-Bond-Oxo/Rob Walker/Team Surtees Surtees TS9-Cosworth
DNA 22   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   Mario Andretti Ferrari 12 1; 56:03.052, 176.07 km/h 1; 55:45.358 1:51:48.410 80
2 8   Jackie Stewart Tyrrell-Cosworth 1 2; 56:06.052 2; 55:57.658 1:52:04.324 70
3 6   Denis Hulme McLaren-Cosworth 4 4/32 laps 5/32 laps 1:53:16.982 58
4 10   Chris Amon Matra 2 6/32 laps 3; 55:57.939 1:53:29.684 58
5 20   Tim Schenken Brabham-Cosworth 14 7/31 laps 6/32 laps 63 laps 50
6 14   Jo Siffert BRM 8 3; 56:48.381 13/28 laps 60 laps 50
7 29   Ron Grable Lola-Chevrolet 22 10/31 laps 7/32 laps 63 laps 45
8 7   Peter Gethin McLaren-Cosworth 20 11/31 laps 8/32 laps 63 laps 43
9 15   Howden Ganley BRM 18 8/31 laps 11/30 laps 61 laps 43
10 12   Pedro Rodriguez BRM 5 20/21 laps 4/32 laps 53 laps 43
11 4   Jacky Ickx Ferrari 3 5/32 laps Ret/2 laps, puncture 34 laps 38
12 25   John Cannon March-Cosworth 16 15/30 laps, throttle 9/31 laps 61 laps 38
13 37   Lou Sell Lola-Chevrolet 21 14/30 laps 12/29 laps 59 laps 36
14 26   Mark Donohue Lola-Chevrolet 7 9/31 laps Ret/5 laps, fuel pressure 36 laps 32
15 17   Derek Bell March-Cosworth 19 13/31 laps Ret/15 laps, suspension 36 laps 32
16 38   Bobby Unser Lola-Chevrolet 27 12/31 laps Ret/9 laps, engine 40 laps 30
17 21   Ronnie Peterson March-Cosworth 17 16/26 laps, suspension 17 laps 43 laps 30
18 36   Gus Hutchison ASD-Chevrolet 28 19/25 laps 14/27 laps 52 laps 29
19 34   Tony Adamowicz Lola-Chevrolet 25 Ret/12 laps 10/31 laps 45 laps 27
20 2   Emerson Fittipaldi Lotus-Cosworth 9 17/25 laps Ret/10 laps, gear linkage 35 laps 26
21 30   Sam Posey Surtees-Chevrolet 15 18/25 laps, overheating Ret/13 laps, engine 38 laps 26
22 18   Henri Pescarolo March-Cosworth 13 Ret/16 laps, bodywork Ret/24 laps, suspension 40 laps 25
23 3   Reine Wisell Lotus-Cosworth 11 Ret/17 laps, ignition DNS 17 laps 17
24 33   Al Unser Lola-Chevrolet 26 Ret/16 laps, oil pressure DNS 16 laps 14
25 35   Bob Bondurant Lola-Chevrolet 23 Ret/15 laps, engine DNS 15 laps 12
26 28   A. J. Foyt McLaren-Chevrolet 30 Ret/6 laps, handling Ret/2 laps, engine 8 laps 11
27 31   Peter Revson Surtees-Chevrolet 24 Ret/11 laps, gearbox DNS 11 laps 9
28 32   Swede Savage Eagle-Plymouth 29 Ret/11 laps, accident DNS 11 laps 7
29 19   Graham Hill Brabham-Cosworth 6 Ret/8 laps, oil pipe DNS 8 laps 5
30 27   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.


Previous race:
1971 Race of Champions
Formula One non-championship races
1971 season
Next race:
1971 Spring Trophy
Previous race:
None
Questor Grand Prix Next race:
None