Belgian Grand Prix 1970

 Belgian Grand Prix 1970

Racing data
4th of 13 races of the 1970 Automobile World Championship
Surname:	XXIX Grand Prix de Belgique
Date:	June 7, 1970
Place:	spa
Course:	Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps
Length:	394.8 km in 28 laps of 14.1 km
Weather:	sunny and warm
Spectator:	~ 50,000
Pole position
Driver:	Jackie Stewart	March
Time:	3: 28.0 min
Fastest lap
Driver:	Chris Amon	March
Time:	3: 27.4 min
Podium
First:	Pedro Rodríguez	BRM
Second:	Chris Amon	March
Third:	Jean-Pierre Beltoise	Matra

The 1970 Belgian Grand Prix took place on June 7th at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps and was the fourth race of the 1970 World Automobile Championship .

Reports

background

Last year, the race on the very fast and barely secured track of Spa-Francorchamps was boycotted by the drivers, so that the Belgian Grand Prix had to be canceled. As a result, guard rails were installed in the area of ​​the most dangerous sections of the route. Because of this, Formula 1 returned to the 14.1-kilometer route in 1970, but it was classified as too dangerous for the future, despite the crash barriers and a braking chicane in the area of ​​the once extremely fast Malmedy curve. This weekend, for the last time in Formula 1 history, there was a race on a high-speed track with no run-off zones.

Bruce McLaren , who had already been registered for the race, had a fatal accident five days earlier during test drives with a CanAm racing car belonging to his own team in Goodwood . The previous weekend, McLaren factory driver Denis Hulme sustained burn injuries to his hands in an accident in training for the 500 mile race in Indianapolis . Plans to replace him with Peter Gethin at the Belgian GP were dropped as the team ultimately did not show up at all due to the tragic death of team founder McLaren.

Johnny Servoz-Gavin ended his Formula 1 career after the Monaco Grand Prix because he did not fully recover from an eye injury he sustained in the winter of 1969/70. Ken Tyrrell initially did not sign a substitute driver, so Jackie Stewart started as the only driver for the team this weekend.

For the first time this season, Ferrari used a second works car alongside Jacky Ickx's vehicle , which was driven by Ignazio Giunti .

training

The Lotus factory drivers Jochen Rindt and John Miles used both the new Lotus 72 and the now somewhat outdated Model 49 in training . Miles also drove the new car in the race, while Rindt opted for the more sophisticated Type 49. March drivers Jackie Stewart and Chris Amon took first and third place on the grid and thus framed Jochen Rindt on the front row.

run

After the start, Rindt took the lead, but was overtaken by Amon during the first lap and a little later by Stewart. The latter also overtook Amon on the second lap, but Amon was able to regain the lead on the third lap. In the meantime, Pedro Rodríguez fought his way past Rindt and soon overtook the two leaders. Amon was able to keep up at first, but eventually fell behind slightly.

Rodríguez won a Formula 1 World Championship race for the second time after the South African Grand Prix in 1967. It was the last Grand Prix victory for both him and the tire manufacturer Dunlop .

Henri Pescarolo and Jo Siffert did not finish because they had to retire on the last laps due to technical defects. Due to the distance covered, they were still rated. Pescarolo, who started from last place, even received a World Championship point when he finished sixth.

Registration list

team	No.	driver	chassis	engine	tires
Yardley Team BRM	1	Pedro Rodríguez	BRM P153	BRM P142 3.0 V12	D.
	2	Jackie Oliver
Frank Williams Racing Cars	7th	Piers Courage	De Tomaso 505	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8	D.
Tom Wheatcroft Racing	8th	Derek Bell	Brabham BT26A		G
March engineering	9	Jo Siffert	March 701		F.
	10	Chris Amon
Tyrrell Racing Organization	11	Jackie Stewart			D.
Antique Automobiles Racing Team	14th	Ronnie Peterson			G
Motor Racing Developments	18th	Jack Brabham	Brabham BT33		G
Auto Motor and Sport	19th	Rolf Stommelen
Gold Leaf Team Lotus	20th	Jochen Rindt	Lotus 72C 1		F.
			Lotus 49C
	21st	John Miles	Lotus 49C 2
			Lotus 72B
World Wide Racing	22nd	Àlex Soler-Roig	Lotus 72C
Rob Walker Racing Team	23	Graham Hill	Lotus 49C
Equipe Matra Elf	25th	Jean-Pierre Beltoise	Matra MS120	Matra MS12 3.0 V12	G
	26th	Henri Pescarolo
Scuderia Ferrari SpA SEFAC	27	Jacky Ickx	Ferrari 312B	Ferrari 001 3.0 F12	F.
	28	Ignazio Giunti

¹ Jochen Rindt only drove the Lotus 72C in practice
² John Miles only drove the Lotus 49C in practice.

Classifications

Starting grid

Item	driver	constructor	time	Ø speed	begin
01	Jackie Stewart	March-Ford	3: 28.0	244.038 km / h	01
02	Jochen Rindt	Lotus Ford	3: 30.1	241.599 km / h	02
03	Chris Amon	March-Ford	3: 30.3	241.369 km / h	03
04th	Jacky Ickx	Ferrari	3: 30.7	240.911 km / h	04th
05	Jack Brabham	Brabham-Ford	3: 31.5	240,000 km / h	05
06th	Pedro Rodríguez	BRM	3: 31.6	239.887 km / h	06th
07th	Rolf Stommelen	Brabham-Ford	3: 32.0	239.434 km / h	07th
08th	Ignazio Giunti	Ferrari	3: 32.4	238.983 km / h	08th
09	Ronnie Peterson	March-Ford	3: 32.8	238.534 km / h	09
10	Jo Siffert	March-Ford	3: 32.9	238.422 km / h	10
11	Jean-Pierre Beltoise	Matra	3: 32.9	238.422 km / h	11
12	Piers Courage	De Tomaso-Ford	3: 33.0	238.310 km / h	12
13	John Miles	Lotus Ford	3: 33.8	237.418 km / h	13
14th	Jackie Oliver	BRM	3: 34.2	236.975 km / h	14th
15th	Derek Bell	Brabham-Ford	3: 36.2	234.783 km / h	15th
16	Graham Hill	Lotus Ford	3: 37.0	233.917 km / h	16
17th	Henri Pescarolo	Matra	3: 37.1	233.809 km / h	17th
DNQ	Àlex Soler-Roig	Lotus Ford	3: 52.7	218.135 km / h	-

run

Item	driver	constructor	Round	Stops	time	begin	Fastest lap	Failure reason
01	Pedro Rodríguez	BRM	28	0	1: 38.10.1	06th	3: 27.6
02	Chris Amon	March-Ford	28	0	+ 1.1	03	3: 27.4
03	Jean-Pierre Beltoise	Matra	28	0	+1: 43.7	11	3: 31.2
04th	Ignazio Giunti	Ferrari	28	0	+ 2: 38.5	08th	3: 30.5
05	Rolf Stommelen	Brabham-Ford	28	0	+ 3: 31.8	07th	3: 34.6
06th	Henri Pescarolo	Matra	27	0	DNF	17th	3: 32.2	Electrical defect
07th	Jo Siffert	March-Ford	26th	0	DNF	10	3: 35.2	Fuel pressure drop
08th	Jacky Ickx	Ferrari	26th	1	+ 2 rounds	04th	3: 31.3
-	Ronnie Peterson	March-Ford	20th	1	NC	09	3: 33.0	Unrated
-	Jack Brabham	Brabham-Ford	19th	0	DNF	05	3: 29.5	Clutch damage
-	Graham Hill	Lotus Ford	19th	1	DNF	16	3: 38.7	Engine failure
-	Jackie Stewart	March-Ford	14th	1	DNF	01	3: 31.9	Engine failure
-	John Miles	Lotus Ford	13	0	DNF	13	3: 37.9	Gearbox damage
-	Jochen Rindt	Lotus Ford	10	0	DNF	02	3: 30.7	Engine failure
-	Jackie Oliver	BRM	07th	0	DNF	14th	3: 32.4	Engine failure
-	Piers Courage	De Tomaso-Ford	04th	0	DNF	12	3: 35.5	Oil pressure loss
-	Derek Bell	Brabham-Ford	01	0	DNF	15th	4: 41.1	Gear lever broken

World Cup stands after the race

The first six of the race got 9, 6, 4, 3, 2 and 1 point (s) respectively.

Driver ranking

Item driver constructor Points 01  Jack Brabham Brabham 15th 02  Jackie Stewart March 13 03  Pedro Rodríguez BRM 10 04th  Jochen Rindt lotus 9 05  Denis Hulme McLaren 9 06th  Jean-Pierre Beltoise Matra 7th 07th  Bruce McLaren McLaren 6th 08th  Chris Amon March 6th

Item driver constructor Points 09  Graham Hill lotus 6th 10  Henri Pescarolo Matra 5 11  Mario Andretti March 4th 12  Ignazio Giunti Ferrari 3 13  Johnny Servoz-Gavin March 2 14th  John Miles lotus 2 15th  Rolf Stommelen Brabham 2

Constructors' championship

Item constructor Points 01  March 19th 02  Brabham 17th 03  McLaren 15th 04th  lotus 14th

Item constructor Points 05  Matra 11 06th  BRM 10 07th  Ferrari 3

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Fight at the limit. The Formula 1 Chronicle 1950–2000 , ed. v. Willy Knupp, RTL book edition: Zeitgeist Verlag: Düsseldorf / Gütersloh 2000, ISBN 3-89748-277-0 , p. 150
2. ↑ "Training" ( Memento of the original from December 5, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (Motorsportarchiv.de; accessed on June 11, 2011)  
3. ^ "Report" (accessed June 11, 2011)
4. ↑ "World Cup stands" ( Memento of the original from December 5, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (Motorsportarchiv.de; accessed on June 11, 2011)