1971 Questor Grand Prix
| 1971 Questor Grand Prix | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Non-championship race in the 1971 Formula One season | |||
![]() | |||
| Race details | |||
| Date | March 28, 1971 | ||
| 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 |
| 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
Note: a blue background indicates a Formula 5000 entrant.
| Pos. | No. | Driver | Entrant | Car | Lap | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 8 | Elf Team Tyrrell | Tyrrell 001-Cosworth | 1:41.257 | ||
| 2 | 10 | Equipe Matra Sports | Matra MS120B | 1:41.275 | +0.018 | |
| 3 | 4 | Scuderia Ferrari SpA SEFAC | Ferrari 312B | 1:41.531 | +0.256 | |
| 4 | 6 | Bruce McLaren Motor Racing | McLaren M19A-Cosworth | 1:42.458 | +0.927 | |
| 5 | 12 | Yardley Team BRM | BRM P160 | 1:42.473 | +0.015 | |
| 6 | 19 | Motor Racing Developments | Brabham BT34-Cosworth | 1:42.763 | +0.290 | |
| 7 | 26 | Sunoco Penske Racing | Lola T192-Chevrolet | 1:43.211 | +0.448 | |
| 8 | 14 | Yardley Team BRM | BRM P160 | 1:43.350 | +0.139 | |
| 9 | 2 | Gold Leaf Team Lotus | Lotus 72C-Cosworth | 1:43.358 | +0.008 | |
| 10 | 27 | Brian O'Neil Racing | Lotus 70B-Ford | 1:43.474 | +0.116 | |
| 11 | 3 | Gold Leaf Team Lotus | Lotus 72C-Cosworth | 1:43.535 | +0.061 | |
| 12 | 5 | Scuderia Ferrari | Ferrari 312B | 1:43.542 | +0.007 | |
| 13 | 18 | Motul/Frank Williams Racing Cars | March 711-Cosworth | 1:43.709 | +0.167 | |
| 14 | 20 | Motor Racing Developments | Brabham BT33-Cosworth | 1:43.772 | +0.063 | |
| 15 | 30 | Champ Carr Inc | Surtees TS8-Chevrolet | 1:44.128 | +0.356 | |
| 16 | 25 | STP Corporation | March 701-Cosworth | 1:44.231 | +0.103 | |
| 17 | 21 | STP March Engineering | March 711-Cosworth | 1:44.360 | +0.129 | |
| 18 | 15 | Yardley Team BRM | BRM P153 | 1:44.379 | +0.019 | |
| 19 | 17 | Motul/Frank Williams Racing Cars | March 701-Cosworth | 1:44.977 | +0.598 | |
| 20 | 7 | Bruce McLaren Motor Racing | McLaren M14A-Cosworth | 1:45.310 | +0.333 | |
| 21 | 37 | Smothers Brothers Racing Team | Lola T192-Chevrolet | 1:45.397 | +0.087 | |
| 22 | 29 | Charlie Hayes Racing | Lola T190/T192-Chevrolet | 1:45.402 | +0.005 | |
| 23 | 35 | Competition Developments | Lola T192-Chevrolet | 1:45.528 | +0.126 | |
| 24 | 31 | Milestone Racing Team | Surtees TS8-Chevrolet | 1:45.668 | +0.140 | |
| 25 | 34 | American Racing Associates | Lola T192-Chevrolet | 1:47.831 | +2.163 | |
| 26 | 33 | Kastner Brophy Racing | Lola T192-Chevrolet | 1:48.172 | +0.341 | |
| 27 | 38 | Charlie Hayes Racing | Lola T190/T192 | 1:48.512 | +0.340 | |
| 28 | 36 | Aero Structures Developments | ASD American Mk 1-Chevrolet | 1:50.954 | +2.442 | |
| 29 | 32 | Junior Tarozzi Racing/Keith Black Racing | Eagle Mk 5-Plymouth | 1:51.509 | +0.555 | |
| 30 | 28 | Agapiou Brothers/Young American Racing | McLaren M10B-Chevrolet | 1:52.229 | +0.720 | |
| DNQ | 45 | Carl Hogan Racing | McLaren M10B-Chevrolet | 1:45.331 | - | |
| DNQ | 40 | Pete Lovely VW Inc | Lotus 49B-Cosworth | 1:47.269 | - | |
| DNQ | 47 | Competition Developments | Lola T190-Chevrolet | 1:54.468 | - | |
| DNS | 28 | Agapiou Brothers/Young American Racing | McLaren M10B-Chevrolet | |||
| DNA | 9 | Elf Team Tyrrell | Tyrrell 002-Cosworth | |||
| DNA | 11 | Equipe Matra Sports | Matra MS120 | |||
| DNA | 16 | Brooke-Bond-Oxo/Rob Walker/Team Surtees | Surtees TS9-Cosworth | |||
| DNA | 22 | STP March Engineering | March 711-Alfa Romeo | |||
1 Hobbs, Lovely and Byers were late entries and relegated to reserve drivers.
2 Stewart briefly drove Foyt's car in qualifying.
Classification
Note: a blue background indicates a Formula 5000 entrant.
| Pos. | No. | Driver | Constructor | Grid | Heat 1 | Heat 2 | Final Pos. | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | Ferrari | 12 | 1; 56:03.052, 176.07 km/h | 1; 55:45.358 | 1:51:48.410 | 80 | |
| 2 | 8 | Tyrrell-Cosworth | 1 | 2; 56:06.052 | 2; 55:57.658 | 1:52:04.324 | 70 | |
| 3 | 6 | McLaren-Cosworth | 4 | 4/32 laps | 5/32 laps | 1:53:16.982 | 58 | |
| 4 | 10 | Matra | 2 | 6/32 laps | 3; 55:57.939 | 1:53:29.684 | 58 | |
| 5 | 20 | Brabham-Cosworth | 14 | 7/31 laps | 6/32 laps | 63 laps | 50 | |
| 6 | 14 | BRM | 8 | 3; 56:48.381 | 13/28 laps | 60 laps | 50 | |
| 7 | 29 | Lola-Chevrolet | 22 | 10/31 laps | 7/32 laps | 63 laps | 45 | |
| 8 | 7 | McLaren-Cosworth | 20 | 11/31 laps | 8/32 laps | 63 laps | 43 | |
| 9 | 15 | BRM | 18 | 8/31 laps | 11/30 laps | 61 laps | 43 | |
| 10 | 12 | BRM | 5 | 20/21 laps | 4/32 laps | 53 laps | 43 | |
| 11 | 4 | Ferrari | 3 | 5/32 laps | Ret/2 laps, puncture | 34 laps | 38 | |
| 12 | 25 | March-Cosworth | 16 | 15/30 laps, throttle | 9/31 laps | 61 laps | 38 | |
| 13 | 37 | Lola-Chevrolet | 21 | 14/30 laps | 12/29 laps | 59 laps | 36 | |
| 14 | 26 | Lola-Chevrolet | 7 | 9/31 laps | Ret/5 laps, fuel pressure | 36 laps | 32 | |
| 15 | 17 | March-Cosworth | 19 | 13/31 laps | Ret/15 laps, suspension | 36 laps | 32 | |
| 16 | 38 | Lola-Chevrolet | 27 | 12/31 laps | Ret/9 laps, engine | 40 laps | 30 | |
| 17 | 21 | March-Cosworth | 17 | 16/26 laps, suspension | 17 laps | 43 laps | 30 | |
| 18 | 36 | ASD-Chevrolet | 28 | 19/25 laps | 14/27 laps | 52 laps | 29 | |
| 19 | 34 | Lola-Chevrolet | 25 | Ret/12 laps | 10/31 laps | 45 laps | 27 | |
| 20 | 2 | Lotus-Cosworth | 9 | 17/25 laps | Ret/10 laps, gear linkage | 35 laps | 26 | |
| 21 | 30 | Surtees-Chevrolet | 15 | 18/25 laps, overheating | Ret/13 laps, engine | 38 laps | 26 | |
| 22 | 18 | March-Cosworth | 13 | Ret/16 laps, bodywork | Ret/24 laps, suspension | 40 laps | 25 | |
| 23 | 3 | Lotus-Cosworth | 11 | Ret/17 laps, ignition | DNS | 17 laps | 17 | |
| 24 | 33 | Lola-Chevrolet | 26 | Ret/16 laps, oil pressure | DNS | 16 laps | 14 | |
| 25 | 35 | Lola-Chevrolet | 23 | Ret/15 laps, engine | DNS | 15 laps | 12 | |
| 26 | 28 | McLaren-Chevrolet | 30 | Ret/6 laps, handling | Ret/2 laps, engine | 8 laps | 11 | |
| 27 | 31 | Surtees-Chevrolet | 24 | Ret/11 laps, gearbox | DNS | 11 laps | 9 | |
| 28 | 32 | Eagle-Plymouth | 29 | Ret/11 laps, accident | DNS | 11 laps | 7 | |
| 29 | 19 | Brabham-Cosworth | 6 | Ret/8 laps, oil pipe | DNS | 8 laps | 5 | |
| 30 | 27 | Lotus-Ford | 10 | Ret/3 laps, rocker arm | DNS | 3 laps | 2 | |
References
- ^ "F1 | Giulio Borsari: "Mechanic of the Race"". April 2014.
- ^ "1971 Questor GP – Heat 1 Qualification". ChicaneF1. Retrieved February 28, 2024.
- ^ a b "1971 – Questor Grand Prix". StatsF1. Retrieved February 28, 2024.
- ^ "1971 Questor GP – Heat 1 Classification". ChicaneF1. Retrieved February 28, 2024.
- ^ "1971 Questor GP – Heat 2 Classification". ChicaneF1. Retrieved February 28, 2024.
- ^ "1971 Questor GP – Aggregate Timings". ChicaneF1. Retrieved February 28, 2024.
