1961 USA Grand Prix

 1961 USA Grand Prix

Racing data
8th of 8 races in the 1961 World Automobile Championship
Surname:	IV United States Grand Prix
Date:	October 8, 1961
Place:	Watkins Glen , USA
Course:	Watkins Glen International
Length:	378 km in 100 laps of 3.78 km
Weather:	sunny, dry
Spectator:	~ 28000
Pole position
Driver:	Jack Brabham	Cooper-Climax
Time:	1: 17.0 min
Fastest lap
Driver:	Jack Brabham (Round 28)	Cooper-Climax
Time:	1: 18.2 min
Podium
First:	Innes Ireland	Lotus Climax
Second:	Dan Gurney	Porsche
Third:	Tony Brooks	Cooper-Climax

The 1961 US Grand Prix took place on October 8, 1961 at Watkins Glen International near Watkins Glen and was the eighth race of the 1961 World Automobile Championship .

Reports

background

After Wolfgang Graf Berghe von Trips' fatal accident at the Italian Grand Prix in 1961 , Ferrari decided not to take part in the US Grand Prix, the season finale, out of respect for the deceased. In addition, both the drivers 'championship and the constructors' championship had already been decided for Ferrari. Ferrari driver Phil Hill was one point ahead of Graf Berghe von Trips as driver world champion. In the constructors' championship, the team had achieved the maximum number of points possible with the cancellation rule. Ferrari decided not to participate in the race last year, but the reason was a lack of competitiveness and a lack of chances for the title.

For the first time in the automobile world championship, the US Grand Prix was held in Watkins Glen, after having driven once each at the Sebring International Raceway and the Riverside International Raceway . Watkins Glen was the permanent venue for the US Grand Prix from 1961 and remained so until 1975. However, a few months before the race it was not yet certain whether it would take place, only on August 28th there was an official confirmation that the Grand Prix would take place Is part of the automobile world championship.

The absence of the Ferrari team, which had dominated until then, gave the other top teams the chance of victory. BRM reported Tony Brooks and Graham Hill , Brooks then retired, Graham Hill also drove for BRM for the next few years and became world drivers with this team the following year. Cooper drove one last time with the driver pairing Jack Brabham and Bruce McLaren , who had achieved the greatest successes for the team in previous years. McLaren stayed with Cooper, but Brabham separated from the team with which he became world champions in 1959 and 1960 and founded his own racing team, with which he drove until he retired in 1970. At Lotus , Jim Clark Innes Ireland drove one last time for the team, he switched to the UDT Laystall Racing Team the following season and drove private cars in the following years. Only Porsche kept its driver pairing and drove with Jo Bonnier and Dan Gurney in 1962 .

Other teams and drivers were registered with private cars, mostly Lotus cars, but also some private Cooper cars. After Stirling Moss tested the new Climax engine in training, but preferred the old engine for the race because it gave him better vehicle behavior, only Jack Brabham remained, who had the new V8 engine in his car. Moss contested the last race of his long and successful career, as he had a serious accident at the Glover Trophy, which was not part of the automobile world championship, in April 1962 and ended his career for this reason. The Yeoman Credit Racing Team extended the contracts of its drivers John Surtees and Roy Salvadori , but the team registered private Cooper for a Grand Prix for the last time and from the following season used cars from the designer Lola Cars . The UDT Laystall Racing Team reported Masten Gregory , who also drove for them the following season, and Olivier Gendebien , who subsequently withdrew from the World Motor Championship and continued his career in the World Sports Car Championship. In addition, several US drivers and teams were entered for the US Grand Prix. Hap Sharp , Roger Penske and Walt Hansgen made their debut, Jim Hall drove his only race of the season, Peter Ryan his only race in the automobile world championship. Lloyd Ruby , a participant in the 1960 Indianapolis 500 , drove his second and final race.

Before the US Grand Prix, there were three races that were not part of the World Automobile Championship. Ireland won the airfield race in Zeltweg on Lotus , Moss on Ferguson the Gold Cup and Tony Marsh on BRM the Lewis Evans Trophy at Brands Hatch . With Moss and McLaren two former winners took part in the race, Cooper and Lotus were each successful as constructors once.

training

After a series of six pole positions for Ferrari in a row, the first starting place at the US Grand Prix was decided between Cooper, Lotus and BRM. Brabham was superior to the competition with his new V8 engine and achieved his only pole position of the season for Cooper. He was a second faster than the competition. Graham Hill qualified in second place, continuing BRM's upward trend in the last few races. After BRM had already regularly achieved points, they closed the gap to the competition and had a car capable of winning. Moss, who decided to use the old Climax engine in his car during practice, dropped back to third towards the end of practice and started the race ahead of McLaren, Clark and Brooks. Gurney qualified his Porsche in seventh place ahead of Ireland, Surtees and team-mate Bonnier. The American drivers mostly occupied positions in the back field, the best of them was Ryan in 13th place.

There were two accidents during training. Gendebien lost control of his car in a curve and rolled over. He was thrown out of the vehicle, but survived the accident with minor injuries and took part in the race. The second accident occurred on the South Loop when the steering of Ireland's Lotus broke and it spun off the track. Later he had transmission problems, which were fixed in time before the race.

run

Brabham won the starting duel against Moss and Graham Hill. Moss overtook Brabham on the first lap of the race and led the first five laps. While Graham Hill lost several positions at the start, Ireland improved from eighth on the grid to third and then remained behind Moss and Brabham. Graham Hill was fourth ahead of Gurney, Gregory and McLaren. In the first lap of the race, Surtees retired with an engine failure. On the third lap of the race Ireland spun on a pool of oil but was not hit by any of the following vehicles. McLaren came third after overtaking Gregory, Gurney and Graham Hill. Ireland was in tenth place after his spin, but overtook several cars by lap ten and was then in fourth place behind McLaren.

Moss and Brabham dueled for the lead in the first laps of the race and often changed them. Brabham overtook Moss on lap six and stayed in front until lap 15. Then Moss was ahead for one round, but Brabham countered. The lead then switched between the two drivers five more times until Brabham lost water on his car on lap 34, causing the engine to overheat. Some time later, Brabham fell behind Moss and came to the pits to have water refilled. That solved the problem, but the engine had already suffered too much damage and Brabham parked the car. Brabham, however, set the fastest race lap, his only one of the season. Hansgen had previously had an accident and Gregory retired with a gearbox damage. Just one lap after Brabham, Moss had an engine failure and gave up his last race in the automobile world championship while leading. As Graham Hill also had technical problems with his car, Ireland took first place and defended it against Gurney until the end of the race.

Ireland led a race for the last time, earning its only World Cup victory at the 1961 US Grand Prix. This was also his last podium finish. For Lotus it was the first victory in the team's history after having previously been successful as a designer several times. Overall, Lotus won the third race of the season as a constructor, all others were won by Ferrari. Salvadori was in second place at the end of the race, but an engine failure three laps before the end of the race ended his race and gave him the chance to finish on the podium. With that, Gurney finished in second place and Brooks finished his career in third place. McLaren finished fourth ahead of Graham Hill and Bonnier. Clark missed the points in seventh place, Penske was eighth ahead of Ryan and Sharp.

In the drivers' standings Gurney improved to fourth place, tied with Moss, who had made it into the top three for the seventh time in a row. In the constructors' championship, Lotus secured second place behind Ferrari, while Porsche came in third ahead of Cooper and BRM

Registration list

team	No.	driver	chassis	engine	tires
Cooper Car Company	01	Jack Brabham	Cooper T58	Climax 1.5 V8	D.
			Cooper T55	Climax 1.5 L4
	02	Bruce McLaren
Hap Sharp	03	Hap Sharp	Cooper T53	Climax 1.5 L4	D.
Owen Racing Organization	04th	Graham Hill	BRM P48 / 57	Climax 1.5 L4	D.
	05	Tony Brooks
John M. Wyatt III	06th	Roger Penske	Cooper T53	Climax 1.5 L4	D.
Rob Walker Racing Team	07th	Stirling Moss	Lotus 18/21	Climax 1.5 L4 Climax 1.5 V8	D.
Porsche System Engineering	11	Jo Bonnier	Porsche 718	Porsche 1.5 B4	D.
	12	Dan Gurney
Team Lotus	14th	Jim Clark	Lotus 21	Climax 1.5 L4	D.
	15th	Innes Ireland
J. Wheeler Autosport	16	Peter Ryan	Lotus 18/21	Climax 1.5 L4	D.
Jim Hall	17th	Jim Hall	Lotus 18/21	Climax 1.5 L4	D.
Yeoman Credit Racing Team	18th	John Surtees	Cooper T53	Climax 1.5 L4	D.
	19th	Roy Salvadori
UDT Laystall Racing Team	21st	Olivier Gendebien	Lotus 18/21	Climax 1.5 L4	D.
	22nd	Masts Gregory
J. Frank Harrison	26th	John Surtees	Lotus 18	Climax 1.5 L4	D.
		Lloyd Ruby
Momo Corporation	60	Walt Hansgen	Cooper T53	Climax 1.5 L4	D.

Remarks

1. ↑ Jack Brabham drove the number 1 Cooper T58 in practice sessions and started the race with it. The Cooper T55 was only used in training.
2. ↑ Stirling Moss drove the Lotus with the number 7 with both engines in the training sessions and started the race with the Climax 1.5 L4 unit.
3. ↑ ^{a b} John Surtees was registered for two teams, but only drove the Cooper with the number 18 in the practice sessions and in the race. Lloyd Ruby drove the number 26 Lotus.

Classifications

Starting grid

Item	driver	constructor	time	Ø speed	begin
01	Jack Brabham	Cooper-Climax	1: 17.0	176.73 km / h	01
02	Graham Hill	BRM-Climax	1: 18.1	174.24 km / h	02
03	Stirling Moss	Lotus Climax	1: 18.2	174.02 km / h	03
04th	Bruce McLaren	Cooper-Climax	1: 18.2	174.02 km / h	04th
05	Jim Clark	Lotus Climax	1: 18.3	173.79 km / h	05
06th	Tony Brooks	BRM-Climax	1: 18.3	173.79 km / h	06th
07th	Dan Gurney	Porsche	1: 18.6	173.13 km / h	07th
08th	Innes Ireland	Lotus Climax	1: 18.8	172.69 km / h	08th
09	John Surtees	Cooper-Climax	1: 18.9	172.47 km / h	09
10	Jo Bonnier	Porsche	1: 18.9	172.47 km / h	10
11	Masts Gregory	Lotus Climax	1: 19.1	172.04 km / h	11
12	Roy Salvadori	Cooper-Climax	1: 19.2	171.82 km / h	12
13	Peter Ryan	Lotus Climax	1: 20.0	170.10 km / h	13
14th	Walt Hansgen	Cooper-Climax	1: 20.4	169.25 km / h	14th
15th	Olivier Gendebien	Lotus Climax	1: 20.5	169.04 km / h	15th
16	Roger Penske	Cooper-Climax	1: 20.6	168.83 km / h	16
17th	Hap Sharp	Cooper-Climax	1: 21.0	168.00 km / h	17th
18th	Jim Hall	Lotus Climax	1: 21.8	166.36 km / h	18th
19th	Lloyd Ruby	Lotus Climax	1: 21.8	166.36 km / h	19th

run

Item	driver	constructor	Round	Stops	time	begin	Fastest lap	Failure reason
01	Innes Ireland	Lotus Climax	100		2: 13: 45.8	08th	1: 18.5
02	Dan Gurney	Porsche	100		+ 4.3	07th	1: 18.5
03	Tony Brooks	BRM-Climax	100		+ 49.0	06th	1: 18.7
04th	Bruce McLaren	Cooper-Climax	100		+ 58.0	04th	1: 19.5
05	Graham Hill	BRM-Climax	99		+ 1 lap	02	1: 18.5
06th	Jo Bonnier	Porsche	98		+ 2 rounds	10	1: 19.1
07th	Jim Clark	Lotus Climax	96		+ 4 rounds	05	1: 18.6
08th	Roger Penske	Cooper-Climax	96		+ 4 rounds	16	1: 21.5
09	Peter Ryan	Lotus Climax	96		+ 4 rounds	13	1: 21.2
10	Hap Sharp	Cooper-Climax	93		+ 7 rounds	17th	1: 21.7
11	Olivier Gendebien	Lotus Climax	92		+ 8 rounds	15th	1: 24.0
-	Roy Salvadori	Cooper-Climax	96		DNF	12	1: 18.7	Engine failure
-	Jim Hall	Lotus Climax	76		DNF	18th	1: 23.7	Loss of fuel
-	Lloyd Ruby	Lotus Climax	76		DNF	19th	2: 21.4	Magneto
-	Stirling Moss	Lotus Climax	58		DNF	03	1: 18.6	Engine failure
-	Jack Brabham	Cooper-Climax	57		DNF	01	1: 18.2	Overheating
-	Masts Gregory	Lotus Climax	23		DNF	11	1: 20.0	transmission
-	Walt Hansgen	Cooper-Climax	14th		DNF	14th	1: 24.9	accident
-	John Surtees	Cooper-Climax	00		DNF	09		Engine failure

World Cup stands after the race

The first six of the race got 9, 6, 4, 3, 2, 1 points. Only the five best results from eight races counted. In the constructors' championship, the first six of the race got 8, 6, 4, 3, 2, 1 points, only the points of the best placed driver on a team counted.

Driver ranking

Item driver constructor Points 01  Phil Hill Ferrari 34 (38) 02  Wolfgang Graf Berghe von Trips Ferrari 33 03  Stirling Moss Lotus Climax 21st 04th  Dan Gurney Porsche 21st 05  Richie Ginther Ferrari 16 06th  Innes Ireland Lotus Climax 12 07th  Jim Clark Lotus Climax 11 08th  Bruce McLaren Cooper-Climax 11 09  Giancarlo Baghetti Ferrari 9

Item driver constructor Points 10  Tony Brooks BRM-Climax 6th 11  Jack Brabham Cooper-Climax 4th 12  John Surtees Cooper-Climax 4th 13  Jackie Lewis Cooper-Climax 3 14th  Olivier Gendebien Ferrari 3 15th  Jo Bonnier Porsche 3 16  Graham Hill BRM-Climax 3 17th  Roy Salvadori Cooper-Climax 2

Constructors' championship

Item constructor Points 01  Ferrari 40 (52) 02  lotus 32 03  Porsche 22 (23) 04th  cooper 14 (18) 05  BRM 7th

Web links

• Results at motorsportarchiv.de
• Photos at f1-facts.com
• Grand Prix Results: United States GP, 1961 at grandprix.com
• Ireland takes maiden victory at Watkins Glen at en.espnf1.com