Until the 70’s, non-championship Formula 1 races were an
important part of the racing calendar. In the 50’s, in fact, sometimes there
were more non-championship races than those valid for the championship. These
were different times, of course. In the 50’s the official calendar comprised
about 8 races, rather than the 20+ of our days.
While in the 50’s most non-championship races were still
held in Italy and France, by the 70’s, the vast majority was held in England,
at Brands Hatch, Silverstone and Oulton Park. Such non-championship races were
also held as trial for future official events, such as the Argentine Grand Prix
of 1971 and the Brazilian Grand Prix of 1972.
After 1983, Non-Championship F1 races, including the
traditional Race of Champions were gone. Not only was the calendar full, but TV
money and sponsorship ensured teams and drivers did not need to boost their
coffers with prize and start money paid in such races, which was not much, at
any rate.
Such races also allowed drivers and teams which generally
did not shine in the World Championship to do well. Surtees was the best
example. An avid participant of such races, Big John won two editions of the
Gold Cup in Oulton Park, in 1970 and 1971. Stommelen led the Argentine GP of
1971. In 1972 Surtees cars did really well in non-championship races: Hailwood (2nd
in the Race of Champions), de Adamich (2nd in Valellunga and 3rd in the Race of
Victory), Pace (2nd in the race of Victory), Surtees (3rd in the International Trophy)
and Schenken (3rd in the Gold Cup) all got podium positions in such races, a
feat that only Hailwood managed in a single race of the F1 Championship (in
Monza, 2nd place). In 1974, Jochen Mass was second in the International Trophy,
in 1975 John Watson was second in the Race of Champions and in 1976 Alan Jones
was second in the Race of Champions. If only Surtees did so well on the World
Championship…
Another feature of such races was the inclusion of Formula
5000 cars in some of the races until 1975. Starting in 1976, only Formula 1
cars took part in these races. If on one hand, the fields got smaller, there was
less drama on the track, for F1 drivers often complained of some of the slower
F5000 cars.
In the 1973 Race of Champions Peter Gethin managed to win the race
driving a F5000 Chevron-Chevrolet, because the best F1 cars all had mechanical
issues.
These races allowed some drivers (and some cars) who did not
have the best of luck earning points in Championship races to finish in the top
6: Tony Trimmer (6th in the 1971 Spring Trophy, 3rd in the 1978 international Trophy,
4th in the 1973 Race of Champions), Luiz Bueno (6th in the 1972 Brazilian Grand
Prix), Raul Boesel (5th in the 1983 Race of Champions), Brian Henton (4th in
the 1977 and 1983 Race of Champions) Patrick Gaillard (6th in the Spanish GP of
1980), David Purley (6th in the 1977 Race of Champions, driving the LEC), Bob
Evans (6th in the 1975 race of Champions), Ray Allen (6th in the 1971 Race of
Champions), Allan Rollinson (5th in the Spring Trophy), Nanni Galli (5th in the
Jochen Rindt Memorial race of 1971 and 3rd in the Valellunga race of 1972),
Vern Schuppan (4th in the Race of Victory, and 5th in the Gold Cup, 1972), François
Migault (5th in the 1974 International Trophy), Jean Louis Schlesser (6th in the 1983 Race of Champions), Skip Barber (6th in the 1971
Jochen Rindt Memorial) and John Nicholson (6th in the 1974 International Trophy,
in the Lyncar). Some of these drivers never even started a F-1 race.
A car that raced only in non-championship races was the
Safir (which was really a Token in disguise) in the International Trophy and
Race of Champions of 1975. The unloved
De Tomaso was driven to third place by Piers Courage in the 1970 International Trophy.
These were not the only Non Championship F1 races of the
period. South Africa had its local championship that featured a few F-1 cars
until 1975, and the European Formula 5000 championship morphed into an almost
Formula Libre championship in 1976, which allowed F-1 cars. Eventually the
F5000’s were dropped, and the championship run by older F-1 and F-2 cars. Any
time these cars attempted to race in the F1 championship proper, they did very
poorly.
Keke Rosberg in the unlikely winner, a Theodore
Some other interesting events in Non-Championship F1 races
during the period were:
* The Brasilia race track was inaugurated in a
non-championship F1 race held soon after the Brazilian Grand Prix of 1974. The
winner, as in the GP, was also Emerson Fittipaldi, and Arturo Merzario had his
only podium in F1 in this race, 3rd.
*The first Japanese driver to race in F1 was Noritake
Takahara, driving a March in the International Trophy of 1974.
* Jacky Ickx’s last F1 win was the Race of Champions in
1974. Under the rain, of course.
* In the Questor GP of 1971, A.J.Foyt, Al Unser and Swede Savage,
all prominent Indycar drivers, ran against F1 machinery for the first and last
time, driving F5000s.
* The last time a BRM finished in the top 6 of a F1 race was
Bob Evans’ 6th place in the 1975 Race of Champions. The last time a BRM won a
race was Beltoise’s win in the Race of Victory, driving the unpopular BRM P180.
* During this period, non-championship F1 races were run in
England, Argentina, United States, Brazil, Germany, Italy, South Africa, Spain
and France. The latter was the venue of the Swiss Grand Prix of 1975.
* Run in deluge, the 1978 International trophy had an
unlikely podium: Keke Rosberg won it in a Theodore, followed by Emerson
Fittipaldi in a Fittipaldi and Tony Trimmer on a McLaren. The top drivers
Andretti, Peterson, Lauda and Hunt all fell
victim of accidents.
* A very rare sight in modern Formula 1 was a private
Ferrari, run by Scuderia Everest for Giancarlo Martini in 1976. He was 10th in
the International Trophy.
* Tom Pryce won the 1975 Race of Champions in the Shadow DN5, a very good car which failed to score wins in the Championship. This was also Pryce's only win in F1.
* Chris Amon, widely reckoned to be the best F1 driver never to win a race, actually won two Non-Championship races: the 1970 International Trophy, in a March, and the Argentine GP of 1971, in a Matra-Simca. Curiously, both races were 2-heat races.
Much more information about racing in the 70's can be found in my book MOTOR RACING IN THE 70'S - PIVOTING FROM ROMANTIC TO ORGANIZED. It is a 472-page book about racing in the period, with 242 photos, covering Formula 1, Formula 2, Formula 3, Formula 5000, other lower formulae, Formula Indy, NASCAR, Touring Cars, Sports Cars, Can Am, Trans Am, IMSA, DRM, local racing scenes, main driver profiles, plus long lists of makes that raced in the period, main drivers and racing venues from 85 countries, year highlights, performance and financial analysis of the sport. It can be bought at Amazon shops in the USA, UK, Italy, France, Germany, Spain, Canada, Australia, Japan,
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