The Non-Championship F1 races of the 70s and 80s

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, 

https://www.amazon.com/dp/1732674426

Carlos de Paula is one of the top Brazilian Portuguese translators in the USA since 1982. And now a top Portuguese AI Translation editor as well. 

A dream come true at last

Fernando Alonso`s victory at SPA, driving a Toyota in an endurance race was a dream of mine. I appreciate Alonso, but am not necessarily a die-hard fan of his. The dream has to do with something else.

I began following racing at first timidly as an 8-year old in 1969, and my first full season of "serious" racing was 1972. By then I had become aware of the different categories, venues, and styles. I loved Formula 1, but I also loved the World Championship of Makes.

That season, a large number of Formula 1 drivers still raced in the Endurance championship. Off the top of my head, I came up with this list of drivers that raced in both F-1 and the Prototype championship that year: Ickx, Regazzoni, Marko, Galli, De Adamich, Bell, Redman, Peterson, Schenken, Ganley, Cevert, Hill, Migault, Beltoise, Amon, Pescarolo, Pace, Soler-Roig, Revson, Merzario, Andretti, W. Fittipaldi Jr., Wisell and Stommelen.

Out of many drivers used by Ferrari in its prototype campaign in 1972, only Sandro Munari did not race in F1 the same year.

While it is true that 72's  top 3 in F-1 did not touch endurance racing, the number 4, Ickx, won and was extremely competitive in both categories.

Times were different, of course. For one, the F-1 championship had only 12 races in 1972. Second, even GP drivers did not make much money back in those days, and to make a few more Dollars, Francs of Deutsche Marks,  they raced not only in the Makes Championship, but also Formula 2, Touring Cars, Formula 5000, Can-Am, Interserie, 2 Liters, hill climbs, and even local racing. With time, and TV, the F-1 schedule expanded to the current 20 plus races and so did salaries - in a nutshell, there is no more NEED for a driver to risk his neck in other categories, for any Joe can make US$ 500,000 a year driving F-1.

Every once in a while a current F1 driver might risk driving at Le Mans, like Hulkenberg a couple of years, back, but by and large, drivers stay in their own categories. I actually never thought I would witness a top F1 driver (Alonso is still highly rated, after all) ever again drive in an Endurance championship race.

Of course, I do not expect this to be a trend. For one, Alonso only accepted the ride because it was Toyota, which is the absolute class of the field. Back in 72 there were at least five competitive teams around, some with as many as 4 cars in certain races. Current GP drivers might be lured into Endurance if, and only if, there are a few top manufacturer teams - driving in a privateer LMP1 team is unlikely to draw top F1 contenders back into the long-distance game.

So let us enjoy while Alonso and Toyota are still around. Both are not likely to linger on much longer.

BMW 3.0 CSL

I have to confess that the BMW 3.0 CSL is a car that totally strikes my fancy. To me, it is the super BMW of all time, in fact, the car that really brought BMW to the fore in automobile racing.

It won a few European Touring Car Championships, starting in 1973, with Toine Hezemans, and most of the races between 1973 and 1980. In Group 2 configuration, it also raced in the the World Championship of Makes, beating quite a few lighter prototypes, and it also raced in Group 5 in 1976, winning three races. The car was also used in IMSA in 1975, winning Sebring, with Brian Redman in the crew, and a few other races with Hans Stuck. The car was also used in the DRM and various touring car series.

The car beat competition from Ford, Mercedes, Jaguar, Chevrolet, Opel, and whoever else dared to race against it in the ETC.

A number of great drivers raced it, among them Jacky Ickx, Dieter Quester, Vittorio Brambilla, Henri Pescarolo, Ronnie Peterson, Hans Stuck, John Fitzpatrick, Tom Walkinshaw, Brian Redman, Gunnar Nillson, Albrecht Krebs, Carlo Facetti, Jean Xhenceval, Alain Peltier, Chris Amon, Toine Hezemans, Alan Moffat, Peter Gregg, Bob Wollek.